The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) officially announced relief for current solar users yesterday. NEPRA has maintained the old net metering policy for all existing solar consumers. Furthermore, the regulatory body issued an official notification amending the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Prosumer) Regulations, 2026, to solidify this change.
Previously, NEPRA scrapped the unit-for-unit system for net metering customers. Consequently, the authority approved net billing instead of net metering for both new and existing solar customers. However, this recent amendment officially reverses that decision for existing users.
Therefore, there will be no change in the contracts of existing solar net metering customers. Their current licenses and agreements will remain fully valid until the expiry of their term. Additionally, NEPRA will bill existing customers according to the previous contract procedures and rates. Notably, these amendments take effect retrospectively from February 9, 2026.
While this announcement brings relief, the policy includes one major condition. According to the S.R.O. 547 (I)/2026 notification signed by NEPRA Director Syed Zawar Haider, upgrading your system changes everything.
Specifically, if a customer makes a “material modification” that alters the maximum electrical output or solar capacity of their facility, they immediately lose these grandfathered benefits. As a result, the previous rate and billing mechanism will cease to apply. Therefore, existing customers must maintain their current system capacity to keep enjoying the older unit-for-unit billing benefits.
