Pakistan Ends Net Metering: The 2026 NEPRA Net Billing Rules Explained

In February 2026, NEPRA notified the Prosumer Regulations 2026, repealing the net-metering framework that had governed rooftop solar in Pakistan for roughly a decade. New solar owners are now on net billing, not net metering.

This is the largest change to solar economics in Pakistan since net metering was introduced. If you already have a connection, you are probably protected. If you are installing now, the payback maths is materially different from every calculator, quote and YouTube video produced before 2026.

On the numbers. Reported buyback figures varied widely across news coverage as the rules were finalised and then amended. This article describes the mechanism, which is settled, and gives ranges for rates, which are not. Confirm the current buyback rate with NEPRA or your DISCO before you commit to a purchase.

What actually changed

Under the old system, exports and imports were netted 1:1. A unit you sent to the grid cancelled a unit you drew from it. Your bill was calculated on the difference.

Under net billing, those two flows are priced separately:

• Electricity you import is bought at your normal retail tariff, including peak and off-peak rates.
• Electricity you export is sold to the DISCO at a separate buyback rate, set by the regulator - substantially below retail.

The energy accounting has not changed. The valuation has. Your meter still records the same registers; the money attached to them is different.

The rate change, in plain terms

The old arrangement effectively valued exports at the retail rate - reported around Rs 25-26 per unit for existing prosumers. The new buyback rate for prosumers joining after the cut-off is far lower. Coverage at the time cited figures from roughly Rs 8 to Rs 15 per unit depending on which draft or determination was being described, with around Rs 10-12 the most commonly reported landing zone.

Whatever the final settled figure, the direction is unambiguous: an exported unit is now worth somewhere between a third and a half of what it was worth, while the units you buy still cost full price.

Who is grandfathered

This is the part worth reading carefully, because it is good news for most existing owners.

Consumers holding a valid net-metering agreement as of 9 February 2026 continue under the old terms - including 1:1 netting and the old buyback rate - until their existing agreement expires. Those agreements ran seven years, so depending on when you signed, protection extends somewhere into the late 2020s.

After expiry, reporting indicated prosumers may request an extension, subject to the DISCO's agreement, rather than an automatic renewal on the old terms.

Two practical implications:

1. Know your agreement date and term. It determines exactly how long your current economics last. Dig out the agreement; do not rely on memory.
2. Do not assume a new system inherits old terms. Applications filed after the cut-off fall under net billing.

The capacity limit also tightened

Alongside the pricing change, the regulations tightened how much solar you may install against your connection. Where the previous framework allowed capacity above your sanctioned load, the new rules tie the permitted system size to your sanctioned load - effectively a significant reduction in the maximum size many households can install under the scheme.

If you were planning to oversize a system to bank summer surplus against winter, that strategy is constrained twice over now: less capacity permitted, and surplus worth less.

Why NEPRA did it

The regulator's stated reasoning was that rapid solar adoption was creating tariff distortion and cost-shifting. The argument runs like this: the retail rate includes fixed network costs - transmission, distribution, capacity payments. When exports are credited at the full retail rate, solar owners avoid contributing to those fixed costs, which are then recovered from customers without solar, who tend to be less affluent.

Whether the correction was proportionate is contested. Solar installers argued it would stall an industry that was reducing pressure on the grid and on the import bill. But the underlying cost-shift concern is the same argument that drove California's NEM 3.0 and the Dutch phase-out, and it is why this trend is playing out across many countries at once.

What this means for your payback

Three things change in the maths.

1. Self-consumption is now worth far more than export

This is the single most important consequence. If you import at roughly Rs 40+ per unit and export at roughly Rs 10, then a unit you consume yourself is worth around four times a unit you sell.

Under the old 1:1 system, it barely mattered when you used electricity - export banked it at the same value. Now, timing is most of the game.

Practical responses:

• Run washing machines, dishwashers, irons and pool pumps in daylight hours.
• Pre-cool the house in the afternoon rather than at night.
• Charge anything with a battery - EVs, backup systems - while the sun is up.
• Consider whether storage now pays, since a battery converts cheap midday surplus into expensive evening consumption.

2. Oversizing no longer pays the way it did

A system sized well beyond your consumption used to bank surplus at full value. Under net billing, that surplus is sold cheaply. Combined with the sanctioned-load cap, the sensible design target has shifted from maximise export to maximise self-consumption.

3. Payback periods lengthen for new installations

Any payback figure calculated on 1:1 netting understates the true period for a new prosumer. If a quote you received still assumes exports offset imports at retail, ask for it to be reworked - or run your own numbers.

Reading your bill under net billing

Your meter registers do not change. On the bidirectional meters common in Pakistan:

• #8 - off-peak import
• #6 - peak import
• #5 - off-peak export

You still calculate usage the same way: subtract the reading printed on your last bill from your current meter reading, per register. What changes is the price applied to the export figure.

Our free calculator separates all three registers, applies any export deduction, and carries your previous surplus forward, so you can see your true net position for the cycle before the bill arrives. If you want a walkthrough of the registers themselves, see how to read your net meter.

Should you still install solar in Pakistan?

For most grid customers, yes - but for a different reason than before.

The case used to be partly about selling to the grid. Now it is almost entirely about not buying from it. With retail tariffs where they are, avoiding a unit of import remains strongly worthwhile, and that value is not affected by the buyback rate at all.

What has changed is that the economics reward a well-matched system used carefully, rather than the largest array your roof will hold. Size to your daytime consumption, shift load into daylight, and treat export as a modest bonus rather than the core of the business case.

Frequently asked questions

Is net metering completely abolished in Pakistan? For new applicants, yes - they go onto net billing. Existing agreements valid as of 9 February 2026 continue on the old terms until they expire.

I applied just before the cut-off. Which scheme am I on? The criterion reported was a valid agreement as of 9 February 2026. An application in progress is not the same as a valid agreement - check your status directly with your DISCO.

Does the change affect the meter I already have? No. The same bidirectional meter - the "green meter" - works under both schemes. Only the settlement rules differ.

Will the buyback rate change again? Very likely. It is set through regulatory determination and has already moved more than once. Build your expectations around self-consumption, which you control, rather than a buyback rate you do not.

Where do I find the official text? The Prosumer Regulations were notified through NEPRA's official SRO and are published on NEPRA's website under legislation. For anything financially significant, use the official text or ask your DISCO in writing rather than relying on secondary reporting - including this article.