NEPRA increases salaries of senior officials by up to 3 times

Islamabad: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has raised the salaries of its senior officials by up to three times.

As part of the revised compensation package, the NEPRA Chairman’s total salary has been set at Rs 3.25 million, while some senior officials now earn Rs 2.95 million. This includes a basic salary of Rs 773,000. The officials also approved new allowances for themselves, based on judicial allowances given to judges. These regulatory allowances range from Rs 631,000 to Rs 700,000 per month.

In addition, NEPRA officers will receive ad hoc relief payments of Rs 587,000 to Rs 650,000 for 2024, while for 2023, they were entitled to ad hoc relief ranging from Rs 544,000 to Rs 600,000. For 2022, the officers will receive a monthly house rent allowance between Rs 105,000 and Rs 116,000, and for 2021, the house rent was between Rs 70,000 and Rs 77,300. Other benefits include a utility allowance of Rs 32,000 to Rs 35,000 and Rs 96,000 in additional allowances.

As a result, the total salary package of NEPRA officials has increased to Rs 3.25 million, which is now higher than the salaries and benefits received by higher court judges. Sources suggest that these changes were made without government approval. Most members and the chairman of NEPRA are former bureaucrats, and currently, the NEPRA Chairman and two members from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are retired bureaucrats.

Recently, the National Assembly passed "The Members of Parliament (Salaries and Allowances) (Amendment) Bill, 2025," which approved a 200% increase in the salaries and benefits of lawmakers. Under the new bill, the salaries and allowances for Members of National Assembly (MNAs) and Senators are now set at Rs 519,000 per month, which is equivalent to the salary of federal secretaries. The bill also introduced other measures, such as addressing environmental protection and mandatory thalassemia screening. These bills have been referred to the relevant committees for further review.

Meanwhile, NEPRA’s recent decision has drawn criticism from Karachi’s electricity consumers. The regulatory authority denied consumers in Karachi any significant relief in their monthly electricity bills. The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) has strongly criticized NEPRA for this decision.

KCCI President Muhammad Javed Balwani condemned the ruling, stating that it deprived Karachi’s consumers of much-needed financial relief and that both NEPRA and K-Electric (KE) failed to deliver the promised benefits to consumers.