On 6 September 2026 ProPakistani reported that the federal government had cleared 11,695 pending net-metering applications on the instructions of Power Minister Awais Leghari, out of 16,654 cases caught in the move to net billing. PITC began contacting cleared applicants by text and WhatsApp and warned them not to pay intermediaries. The remaining 4,959 files stayed under verification.
The arithmetic is simple and worth stating: 70.2 per cent of the backlog was cleared in this round (11,695 divided by 16,654), leaving 29.8 per cent in review. That is a better clearance rate than the "about two-thirds" shorthand in some coverage suggests, and it gives a baseline against which the next update can be measured.
The rules behind the queue
These are files that were in progress when NEPRA's Prosumer Regulations, 2026 took effect on 9 February and replaced net metering with net billing. Under the new regulations, exported units are credited at the national average energy purchase price under five-year agreements. Legacy agreements kept their old terms after NEPRA's April amendment, which is why getting a pending file recognised as pre-cutoff is worth real money to a household.
A further change on 6 August, S.R.O. 1330(I)/2026, removed the need for NEPRA concurrence for systems of 25 kW or below and left approval with the distribution company. That will speed up new small connections. It also concentrates discretion in DISCO offices, which is exactly where intermediaries have been selling access.
What we would watch
The 4,959 cases still in review are the real test. If verification ends in a published list of rejections with reasons, the episode closes cleanly. If the residual cohort simply stops being mentioned, those applicants will end up in court and the courts will decide the policy instead of NEPRA.
For DISCOs, cleared cases mean another tranche of daytime exports on legacy terms. We have not seen a published estimate of the capacity involved, and the government should provide one, because it bears directly on the load forecasts going into IGCEP 2027.
A public status portal would cost less than the helplines and agent warnings now being used.