NEPRA's Rs350 Fixed Charge Now Hits Even Protected Homes — Here's How Solar Still Wins

• By Best Solar Company PK
• 19 Oct, 2026
• Energy Savings
• 8 min read

If you run a protected or low-usage home and assumed Pakistan's tariff reforms would spare you, February 2026 changed that. Through its decision of 11 February 2026 (notified via S.R.O. 279(I)/2026), NEPRA extended a monthly fixed charge — rising to as much as **Rs350 per kW of sanctioned load** — to domestic consumers using up to 300 units a month, including previously exempt protected households.

Here's the part that matters for anyone considering rooftop solar: the **NEPRA Rs350 fixed charge** is not a per-unit charge. It is tied to your sanctioned load, not your consumption. So while a well-designed solar system can shrink your energy bill dramatically, it does almost nothing to this flat line item. Understanding that distinction is the single most important factor in sizing your system correctly in 2026.

What exactly did NEPRA approve?

The reform shifts roughly Rs132 billion in annual recovery onto domestic bills, partly to unwind a Rs102 billion cross-subsidy that industrial consumers previously paid toward household electricity. The practical result is a fixed charge, billed per kilowatt of your sanctioned load every month, regardless of how many units you consume.

For protected consumers the approved fixed charges are:

• **Rs200/kW/month** for homes using 1–100 units
• **Rs300/kW/month** for 101–200 units
• Up to **Rs350/kW/month** for the roughly 2.9 million consumers in the 201–300 unit band

Unprotected consumers face a steeper ladder, running from Rs275/kW up to Rs675/kW at the highest slabs. Lifeline consumers remain exempt.

| Consumer category | Monthly units | Fixed charge (Rs/kW) | |---|---|---| | Protected | 1–100 | 200 | | Protected | 101–200 | 300 | | Protected | 201–300 | 350 | | Unprotected | 1–100 | 275 | | Unprotected | 201–300 | 350 | | Unprotected | 501+ | 675 |

Because the charge is multiplied by your sanctioned load, a single-phase home with 1 kW sanctioned load in the 201–300 band pays about Rs350 a month, while a 2 kW connection pays closer to Rs700 — around **Rs8,400 a year** on the fixed line alone.

Why solar slashes your units but not the fixed charge

Your electricity bill has two layers. The **energy charge** is per-unit (for protected homes, Rs10.54 for the first 100 units and Rs13.01 for 101–200 units; unprotected rates climb from Rs22.44 past Rs40 per unit). The **fixed charge** is the flat, load-based amount NEPRA just introduced.

Rooftop solar attacks the first layer. Every unit your panels generate is a unit you don't buy from the grid at Rs22–40. But the fixed charge is billed whether your panels produce 600 units or zero — it is attached to your meter, not your meter reading.

This is why "zeroing out" your bill is no longer realistic under the 2026 rules. Even a consumer who exports more than they import will still see the fixed charge, plus taxes, on the bill.

Net billing makes self-consumption the real prize

The second big change reinforces this. Under the **NEPRA Prosumer Regulations 2026**, new rooftop installations moved from net metering to **net billing**. Exported units are no longer swapped one-for-one against imported units — they are bought back at a much lower rate (reported around Rs10 per unit for new prosumers, versus roughly Rs25–27 that earlier consumers locked in), while every imported unit is charged at the full slab tariff. Contract terms were also cut to five years.

The lesson is blunt: exporting a unit for ~Rs10 that you could have used yourself to avoid buying at Rs30+ is a poor trade. The money is in **self-consumption**, not export. For a deeper breakdown, see our guide on net metering to net billing in Pakistan.

How to size your solar system around the fixed charge

From hundreds of residential installs, here is the practical playbook we now recommend:

1. **Match generation to your daytime load first.** Size the array to cover what you actually consume while the sun is up — fans, inverter AC, pumps, refrigeration. Under net billing, a kilowatt-hour self-consumed is worth 3x one exported. 2. **Don't oversize for export.** An oversized system that dumps cheap units to the grid has a longer payback than it did under net metering. Model your return with Rs10 buyback, not Rs25. 3. **Review your sanctioned load.** Since the fixed charge is per kW of sanctioned load, carrying more sanctioned load than you need quietly inflates this line. If your genuine peak demand is lower, discuss a load revision with your DISCO. 4. **Consider a battery for evening self-consumption.** Storing midday surplus to run the evening peak — instead of exporting at Rs10 and re-importing at Rs35 — often beats adding more panels. See our notes on solar battery storage options in Pakistan. 5. **Keep taxes and fixed charges in your payback math.** Budget the fixed charge as an unavoidable annual cost. Your savings target is the energy charge, which for a 300-unit unprotected home can still exceed Rs8,000–10,000 a month.

A concrete example: a Lahore household using 280 units pays roughly Rs350 fixed plus a four-figure energy charge each month. A right-sized 3–4 kW system can erase most of the energy charge, trimming the monthly bill by Rs7,000–9,000 — but the Rs350 fixed line remains. Over a year that's still Rs84,000–108,000 saved, with the fixed charge a small, known constant. For help choosing capacity, read how to size a home solar system in Pakistan.

Frequently Asked Questions

**Does solar remove the NEPRA Rs350 fixed charge?** No. The fixed charge is based on your sanctioned load, not your units. Solar reduces or eliminates the per-unit energy charge, but the fixed charge stays on your bill as long as you remain connected to the grid.

**Are protected consumers really being charged now?** Yes. NEPRA's February 2026 decision extended fixed charges to protected and sub-300-unit households that were previously exempt — Rs200/kW for 1–100 units, Rs300/kW for 101–200, and up to Rs350/kW for 201–300 units. Only lifeline consumers remain exempt.

**Is going fully off-grid a way to avoid the fixed charge?** Technically yes, because the charge applies to grid-connected meters. But a reliable off-grid setup needs significant battery capacity and oversizing, which usually costs more than the fixed charge saves. For most homes, a right-sized hybrid system is the better economics.

**Should I still install solar under net billing?** Absolutely — the payback is longer than under old net metering, but with slab tariffs above Rs30–40 per unit, self-consumed solar still delivers strong returns. The key is sizing for self-use rather than export.

The bottom line

NEPRA's up-to-Rs350 fixed charge is now a permanent fixture, even for protected and low-use homes, and solar will not make it disappear. What solar still does brilliantly is demolish the expensive per-unit energy charge — the largest, fastest-growing part of your bill. Size your system for daytime self-consumption, keep your sanctioned load lean, and treat the fixed charge as a small fixed cost rather than a reason to hesitate. Want a sizing estimate tailored to your load and slab? Talk to our team for a free assessment.

Best Solar Company PK designs and installs reliable solar systems in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Taunsa Sharif and Karachi. Contact us for a free survey and the best advice for your home or business.