How to File a Complaint Against NEPRA
The procedural steps available to Pakistani citizens who want to challenge a NEPRA tariff decision, billing dispute, or regulatory failure
By Asad Baig · Lahore · April 2026 · Approx. 4-min read
What kinds of complaints NEPRA accepts
NEPRA, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, has formal procedures for handling consumer complaints. The major categories:
Billing disputes: Disagreements about specific bills, including alleged over-billing, incorrect meter readings, incorrect tariff slab application, or disputed FPA charges.
Service quality issues: Frequent outages, voltage fluctuations, slow connection of new meters, refusal to connect.
Tariff objections: Formal objections during NEPRA's tariff-setting process, including comments on proposed tariff changes.
Regulatory complaints: Complaints about NEPRA's own conduct, though these are addressed to NEPRA itself, which is rarely satisfactory for the complainant.
For most Pakistani citizens, the practical complaint will be a billing dispute or service quality issue. This article focuses on those.
The basic procedure
The standard process has several layers.
Step one: First contact your DISCO. Before approaching NEPRA, raise the issue with your distribution company (LESCO, KE, IESCO, MEPCO, etc.). Most DISCOs have customer service centres, helplines, and online complaint portals. Many billing disputes can be resolved at this level without escalation. Document the contact, including reference numbers and dates.
Step two: Escalate to the DISCO's grievance redressal mechanism. Each DISCO has an internal grievance redressal officer. If first-line customer service does not resolve the issue, file a formal grievance. Most DISCOs are required to respond within a defined timeframe (typically 30 days).
Step three: File a complaint with NEPRA. If the DISCO does not resolve the issue, you can escalate to NEPRA directly. NEPRA accepts complaints through:
- The NEPRA website complaint portal at nepra.org.pk
- Email to consumer.affairs@nepra.org.pk
- Postal mail to NEPRA's Islamabad office
- In-person submission at NEPRA's regional offices
Include all relevant documentation: copies of disputed bills, prior correspondence with the DISCO, meter readings, and a clear statement of the issue and the resolution sought.
Step four: Attend the NEPRA hearing if scheduled. NEPRA may convene a hearing on your complaint, particularly if it raises issues of broader significance. You have the right to attend in person or through representation.
Step five: Appeal to higher courts if NEPRA decision is unfavourable. NEPRA decisions can be challenged in Pakistani higher courts (typically the relevant provincial High Court). This requires legal representation and is typically pursued only for cases involving substantial sums or principles.
What individual complaints can and cannot achieve
Individual complaints are effective for resolving specific billing disputes, service quality issues, and clear DISCO errors. The procedural protections are real.
What individual complaints cannot achieve is structural change. The IPP capacity payment system, the take-or-pay contracts, the tariff structures that produce high bills as a matter of design, are not addressed by individual consumer complaints. They are addressed (or not addressed) by political processes, regulatory reform, and contractual renegotiation.
If your complaint is "my bill is wrong," NEPRA's process can help. If your complaint is "Pakistani electricity is structurally unaffordable," individual complaints will not solve it. The structural questions require collective political action, which I describe in my pillar on the IPP system.
WHAT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT, AND WHERE
Specific billing errors, meter problems, service outages: complain to the DISCO first, then NEPRA if unresolved.
Structural high tariffs, capacity payment design, the IPP contracts themselves: complaining to NEPRA will not help. The political process is the appropriate venue, through electoral pressure and public advocacy.
NEPRA public hearings
NEPRA conducts public hearings on tariff petitions and major regulatory decisions. These are scheduled at NEPRA's offices and announced on the NEPRA website.
Citizens have the right to attend public hearings, submit written objections, and (with NEPRA's permission) speak. Industry representatives, civil society organisations, and consumer groups regularly attend. Substantive participation requires preparation: knowing the petition, having specific objections, and being able to articulate them in technical terms.
Public hearings have, historically, rarely changed the outcomes of major tariff decisions. The 2020 Power Sector Inquiry Report documented this pattern. NEPRA conducts the hearings as required by law, but the decisions have typically been made in advance.
This does not mean public hearings are useless. They establish the public record. They give civil society organisations a platform. They sometimes catch specific errors that NEPRA staff acknowledges. But the political-economy assumption that public hearings will alter the broader trajectory of Pakistani electricity policy has not been borne out.
What you should take away
Three things.
The complaint procedure exists and works for specific billing disputes. Use it for individual issues like over-billing, incorrect tariff slab application, or service quality problems.
Individual complaints will not address structural problems. The capacity payment system, the IPP contracts, the design of tariffs are not within the scope of consumer complaints. They require political action.
NEPRA public hearings establish the public record but rarely change outcomes. Attend them, submit objections, but do not expect them to be the venue where structural change happens.
Now you know how to file a NEPRA complaint, and what to expect from doing so. Pass it on.
Thank you for reading.
, Asad Baig, Lahore, April 2026
Frequently asked questions
How do I file a complaint against NEPRA? Follow the layered procedure. First, contact your DISCO directly. If unresolved, file a formal grievance with the DISCO's grievance redressal officer. If still unresolved, file with NEPRA directly through their website (nepra.org.pk) or email (consumer.affairs@nepra.org.pk).
What complaints does NEPRA accept? Billing disputes, service quality issues, tariff objections during the tariff-setting process, and regulatory complaints about NEPRA's own conduct. The first two categories are most relevant for individual consumers.
Can I attend a NEPRA public hearing? Yes. NEPRA public hearings are open to the public. Schedules are published on the NEPRA website. You can attend, submit written objections, and (with NEPRA's permission) speak.
Sources and notes
- NEPRA consumer protection regulations (nepra.org.pk)
- DISCO grievance redressal procedures (LESCO, KE, IESCO, MEPCO, etc.)
- Power Sector Inquiry Report 2020 (ARY News mirror)
- Transparency International Pakistan, NEPRA (transparency.org.pk/napra)
Related reading from Asad Baig
The cluster post this answers under
The pillar
Sibling long-tail explainers
- The 2025 NEPRA Salary Scandal Explained
- How to Read Your Pakistani Electricity Bill, Line by Line
- What Is Capacity Payment in Pakistan?
Asad Baig