In a groundbreaking move, Pakistani government is working on new scheme that is set to bring relief to its low income families grappling with inflated electricity bills.

The scorching summer season leads to increased power consumption, resulting in hefty bills that burden people. The government is chalking out design of subsidy program for millions of lifeline electricity consumers nationwide, which will be presented to the Federal Cabinet for approval.

The Power Division is working with Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) for Electricity Subsidy Program aimed at transforming the existing untargeted subsidies into a targeted system to assist underprivileged domestic electricity consumers across Pakistan.

Benazir Income Support Program will aid the Power Division in identifying and targeting eligible families for the subsidy. Recently, a hike in power rates up to Rs7.12 was notified for domestic consumers.

Power Division will determine the number of subsidies to be provided. BISP will screen its database to identify families with electric connections, starting from PMT, and continue until a cut-off score is reached, specifying the total number of subsidies. BISP will also continue registering families not yet in the database.

The number of families to receive the electricity subsidy will be finalised and and risk assessment of the subsidy design will be conducted by the Power Division to ensure safeguards against potential risks.