Pakistan Launches Nationwide Smart Meter Rollout
- The drive aims to cut costs, end billing errors
- Move set to save Rs25b annually, boost consumer trust and transparency
- Meter cost slashed by 25%, saving Rs25 billion annually
In a sweeping digital reform, Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy (Power Division) has launched a large-scale rollout of smart meters across electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), aiming to slash costs, improve billing accuracy, and enhance customer service.
Declaring 2025–26 as the “Year of Customer Service Improvement,” the ministry said the initiative marks a major leap toward modernizing the country’s outdated metering system and empowering consumers with real-time data access and control over their electricity usage.
A Power Division spokesperson said smart metering is central to the ministry’s digitalization agenda, calling it “the key interface between the customer and the service provider.”
Meter cost rationalized, saving billions
To remove one of the biggest hurdles — high meter prices — the Power Division intervened to rationalize costs. The price of a single-phase smart meter has dropped from Rs20,000 to around Rs15,000, aligning closer to global benchmarks.
With nearly 80% of Pakistan’s 38 million power consumers using single-phase connections, the reduction is expected to generate an estimated Rs25 billion in national savings annually, based on five-million-meter replacements per year. The ministry expects even lower prices through future international competitive bidding.
Digital transformation for consumers and utilities
The rollout will drastically reduce human involvement in meter reading, curbing billing disputes and ensuring tamper-proof, automated readings. Consumers will soon be able to monitor their energy consumption through mobile applications — gaining transparency, control, and the ability to manage electricity costs more effectively.
For DISCOs, the system promises remote readings, faster billing, real-time fault detection, and improved operational safety.
“A milestone in power sector reform”
The Power Division described the initiative as a cornerstone of Pakistan’s ongoing power sector reform agenda — one that blends efficiency, transparency, and customer-centric service delivery.
“This transformation will not only improve customer experience but also restore consumer confidence in the system,” the spokesperson said.
The ministry believes the digitalization of metering is the foundation of a smarter, fairer power network — and a vital step toward ending Pakistan’s chronic issues of billing inefficiency and consumer mistrust.
