Paid Your Electricity Bill but It Shows Unpaid? How to Fix It in Pakistan

If you paid your electricity bill but the next bill still shows it as unpaid, take your original paid bill to the company's revenue office or the bank branch where you paid. Under NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual, they can correct the next bill on the same day.

This happens more than companies admit. The bank sends its payment list late, or loses a line, and your payment never reaches your account. The next bill then carries the old amount as arrears, sometimes with a late surcharge on top.

We read chapters 6, 8 and 10 of NEPRA's revised Consumer Service Manual on 7 October 2026. It names who can fix a missing payment, how fast, and what protects you from disconnection while you wait.

The person who took your money can correct the bill

Clause 10.3.1(i) covers the case where paid amounts are not included in the next bill. Revenue officers, bank managers and the in charge of the post office where the last bill was paid are all competent to amend the bill. They can do it the same day, if you show the original previous paid bill.

The stamped bank copy is the paper that matters. A screenshot of an app payment helps, but the manual names the original paid bill. If you paid online, keep the confirmation and ask the revenue office what it accepts.

The online bill portals show whether your payment has posted. Check there before you go, so you know what is missing.

Fix a missing payment in five steps

1. Find your paid copy. Look for the stamped bank slip, the post office stamp or the payment confirmation. If you lost it, ask the bank for a copy with the date and amount.
2. Compare it with the new bill. Check the paid amount, the reference number and the date against the arrears line. The 12 lines on an electricity bill show where arrears appear.
3. Go to the revenue office or the bank branch. Ask for the bill to be amended under the paid amount rule. Take the original new bill too.
4. Ask for the corrected bill in hand. Do not accept a verbal promise. Ask for a fresh printed bill, a stamp or a signed note.
5. Check the next month. If the arrears return, complain at the sub division with your paper trail and ask for a dated receipt.

Other billing errors have their own time limits

Clause 10.3.1 lists the billing complaints a company must handle and gives a time for each. A missing payment is only one of them.

The manual gives a late or lost bank payment list as an example of a wrong surcharge. The bank sends that list to the company, and when it is late or lost your payment looks late. The late payment surcharge page explains the 5 percent and 10 percent rates. The earlier January 2021 manual gave the same 3 day limit, and the 2025 text repeats it.

If you never got a bill, the duplicate bill is free and quick.

A bill that arrives late must not cost you a surcharge

Sometimes the problem is not a missing payment but a bill that reached you too late. Clause 10.3.1(f) says that when delivery is late and you do not get seven clear days to pay, the company's competent officer can extend the due date without a surcharge. Ask for the extension in writing, with the date you received the bill.

A new connection has its own limit. The first bill must be issued within two months of the connection date, and a complaint about that is to be settled within 15 days (clause 10.3.1(h)). If it comes later, it should use the slab for the number of months it covers.

You can also avoid timing trouble by paying early. The manual says that if you pay by cheque, pay order or bank draft at a revenue office, deposit it at least three days before the due date so it clears in time (clause 6.7.2).

A missing payment can look like a default, so act early

The danger is not the arrears line itself. It is what the company does with unpaid arrears. Clause 8.2.3 says no connection is cut for default on one month's bill. Clause 8.2.2 says that if the previous month is unpaid, the company issues a clear seven day notice with the second month's bill.

So a wrongly shown arrear in month one is safe from disconnection. In month two it can bring a notice. Fix it in month one. If you get the notice, take your paid bill and the complaint receipt to the revenue office the same day, and see what reconnection costs to understand why you should not let it reach disconnection.

Clause 8.2.9 gives a stronger shield. A consumer who has a petition against wrong billing at NEPRA, where restraining orders have been issued, is not disconnected, but must keep paying current bills. That applies only where orders exist, not to every complaint.

If the company will not correct it

Escalate in the order set out in the guide to wrong electricity bill complaints. Start with the sub division, then the company's complaint cell, then NEPRA. In Karachi the K-Electric complaint route through 118 gives you a tracking number. The service deadlines NEPRA set for every electricity company list the other times a company has to meet.

If your problem is a high reading rather than a missing payment, check the meter reading snapshot first.

Common questions

I paid my electricity bill but it shows unpaid. What do I do?

Take the original paid bill to the revenue office or the bank branch where you paid. They can amend the next bill the same day under clause 10.3.1(i).

Who can correct a bill for a paid amount?

Revenue officers, bank managers and the in charge of the post office where you paid. You must show the original paid bill.

Will I be charged a surcharge if the bank was late?

A surcharge caused by a late or lost bank list is listed as a wrong surcharge. Complain, and the company must deal with it within 3 days.

Can my electricity be cut for an amount I already paid?

Not for one month's default, and not before a clear seven day notice with the second bill. Fix it before then.

What if my bill arrived after the due date?

Ask the company to extend the due date without a surcharge. You are entitled to seven clear days from delivery.

How long does a correction take?

Same day for a paid amount, at once for an arithmetic error, and 3 days for surcharge complaints. Other billing complaints have longer limits.

How we verified this

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

Last checked on 7 October 2026. We read NEPRA's revised Consumer Service Manual, issued to all distribution companies on 26 November 2025, as published on GEPCO's website: clauses 6.7, 8.2 and 10.3. We did not test the correction at a revenue office or a bank, and speed in practice depends on the company and the branch. Whether a screenshot of an online payment is accepted in place of the stamped bill is not stated in the manual, so ask your revenue office.