Aman Pracha, Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), has strongly criticized the government’s decision to reduce the solar net metering rate from 29 rupees to 11 rupees, stating that this move will severely impact new investments in the country. He further added that the business community will be disappointed, and billions of rupees invested could be wasted if many consumers shift to hybrid systems. In this case, they will also lose out on the electricity they currently consume.
Aman Pracha emphasized that while NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) has presented this as the “Solar Consumer Regulations 2025” and claimed to have consulted stakeholders, the reality is that the country’s largest business community representative body, FPCCI, was not consulted. The decision to change the net metering policy for all solar consumers is detrimental to investment and could lead to significant losses.
He also noted that under the new system, the period for solar agreements has been reduced from 7 to 5 years. Additionally, the proposed payment to consumers has been reduced from 22 rupees per unit to 10 rupees, which will be unacceptable to many. As a result, the benefits of the previous net metering system would disappear under the new policy.
Aman Pracha mentioned that under the old net metering system, solar consumers enjoyed a benefit of 25 rupees 98 paise per unit. Moreover, the requirement for a NEPRA license for loads below 25 kilowatts, which was previously exempted for domestic, industrial, and commercial users, is now mandatory. He further explained that with the previous system, if consumers returned as much electricity to the grid as they used, their electricity bills could essentially be zero. In that system, people used their own electricity and benefited from supplying excess power to the grid.
This system was financially advantageous and profitable for consumers because the buyback rate was relatively high, with electricity distribution companies purchasing excess electricity at 22 to 27 rupees per unit. As a result, consumers could recover the cost of a 10- to 15-kilowatt solar system within 2 to 5 years. However, under the new system, the billing process has changed completely. Now, people sell their excess electricity to the grid at a much lower rate and buy electricity back at a higher price, with the common consumer’s unit rate being 34 rupees.
According to the proposed new rates, all solar power generated will be sold directly to the grid at around 10 to 11.33 rupees per unit. Consequently, it may now take six to seven years to recover the cost of a 10-kilowatt solar system. Aman Pracha questioned whether the government could save the already weakened power grid by restricting net metering users, or if it would eventually target non-net-metered solar users as well to generate the necessary revenue for capacity payments to Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
The Vice President of FPCCI also mentioned that the government itself introduced the green energy transition policy, which led the business community to make significant investments in solar and other renewable energy projects. However, the decision to reduce the solar net metering rate from 29 rupees to 11 rupees will cause severe harm to business investments, potentially leading to billions of rupees in waste.
Aman Pracha stressed that FPCCI has consistently called for policy continuity, as any change would deter future investments. He urged the government to ensure that once a policy is announced, no changes should be made to it, so that the desired outcomes could be achieved.
