Check MEPCO's Loss Target in Punjab: NEPRA Allows 11.34%, MEPCO Lost 13.33%

NEPRA has set MEPCO's provisional loss target at 11.34% for FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27. MEPCO asked for 13.15%, and it ended 2024-25 at 13.33%. The target is in NEPRA's decision of 30 April 2026 on MEPCO's five year investment plan. If the loss study is late, a tighter 9.30% applies.

MEPCO supplies Multan and much of southern Punjab. We read the full decision on NEPRA's MEPCO page. This guide gives the numbers, the study deadline and the steps to check them yourself.

MEPCO lost 13.33% of its power against an 11.34% target

MEPCO closed FY 2024-25 with a transmission and distribution loss of 13.33%. NEPRA's target for the year was 11.34%. So the gap is about two percentage points, far smaller than the gaps at the Sindh, Peshawar and Quetta companies.

NEPRA's targets for MEPCO fell from 13.12% in FY 2020-21 to 11.34% in FY 2024-25. MEPCO told NEPRA why it missed. Only six of 25 planned grid stations were finished, and the other 19 were still pending. Finishing them, it says, would have saved about 115 GWh, or 0.58% of losses.

Figures differ slightly between NEPRA documents. NEPRA's separate performance report, covered in the guide to line losses by power company, lists MEPCO at 13.81%. The 13.33% figure comes from this investment plan decision.

Two circles and a billing change pushed losses up

MEPCO named two problem areas: Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. In FY 2023-24 its overall distribution loss was 14.2%, while Rahim Yar Khan alone stood at 20.9%. MEPCO blamed terrain, scattered homes, law and order and limited checking in kacha areas.

It also pointed to a change in the billing cycle. In FY 2023-24 the month-end meter reading moved from the 10th to the 4th, which cut the billing period by six days. MEPCO says this distorted its calculated losses for a while.

These are MEPCO's explanations, as recorded by NEPRA. The decision does not say NEPRA accepted every one of them.

NEPRA allows 11.34% now and 9.30% if the study is late

MEPCO asked for targets starting at 13.15% in FY 2025-26 and falling to 11.61% by FY 2029-30. NEPRA instead approved 11.34% for the first two years. NEPRA kept the figure it had set before. The table shows the parts and the fallback.

The 11.34% is the same figure NEPRA used as the target for FY 2024-25. So NEPRA has not loosened MEPCO's target. It has held it where it was while the study is pending.

MEPCO used 59% of its approved investment

NEPRA allowed MEPCO Rs 64,903 million for the last five years. MEPCO spent Rs 38,406 million, about 59%. The biggest shortfall was in grid station work, where the decision cites land and equipment problems. NEPRA wants better planning and monitoring.

MEPCO's savings plan for the new period includes 75,897 scanning meters, which it says will save 53 million units by improving billing and controlling theft. It also plans 32,465 monitoring devices on distribution transformers, expected to save 22.7 million units.

Those savings are MEPCO's own estimates, repeated in NEPRA's decision. We have not tested them.

Check the decision yourself in five steps

The decision is public on NEPRA's MEPCO page, so you can read the same paragraphs. The loss tables sit near the end, so you do not need to read all 80 pages. Each step below names the paragraph to open.

1. Open the MEPCO page on nepra.org.pk.
2. Find the entry dated 30-04-2026 on the Distribution Investment Plan and Losses Assessment.
3. Open the PDF and go to paragraphs 64 to 68 for past spending and the loss figures.
4. Read paragraph 235 for MEPCO's request and paragraph 253 for the provisional table.
5. Read paragraph 254 for the fallback table if the study is late.

NEPRA told every company to deliver the study within nine months of its 7 January 2026 tariff decision, which we count as about 7 October 2026. We did not see a MEPCO study or a NEPRA notice about it on the pages we read on 14 October 2026.

If you need your bill, see how to do a MEPCO bill check online, including the helpline that is not 118.

Common questions about MEPCO's loss target

What is MEPCO's loss target?

NEPRA allows 11.34% total loss for FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27. It is a provisional figure until an outside study is done.

What did MEPCO lose in 2024-25?

MEPCO reported 13.33% in this decision. NEPRA's separate performance report lists 13.81%, so the two documents differ slightly.

What happens if MEPCO misses the study deadline?

The target becomes 9.30%. NEPRA says the money effect will be reworked in a later adjustment.

Which MEPCO areas have the highest losses?

MEPCO named Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. It gave 20.9% for Rahim Yar Khan in FY 2023-24 against 14.2% for the whole company.

Does this raise my electricity bill?

We cannot say. The decision sets targets and investment rules, not a unit price. Any money effect would come through a later NEPRA adjustment.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 14 October 2026. Every figure comes from NEPRA's decision of 30 April 2026 on MEPCO's Distribution Investment Plan and Losses Assessment, on the MEPCO page of nepra.org.pk. The PDF is a scan, so check the printed table before you quote a decimal. The study deadline date is our own count. We did not find a MEPCO statement in reply.