Electricity subsidy via BISP: Ahsan Iqbal-led committee to plan the switch from 1 January 2027

The federal government is moving the electricity subsidy away from cheap slabs for everyone and towards cash for poor households identified through BISP. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has set up a ministerial committee to draw up the plan, Business Recorder reported on 26 October 2026, and the new system is meant to start on 1 January 2027.

Who sits on the committee

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal heads it. The members named in the notification, as reported, are Rana Sanaullah Khan, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, Dr Musaddak Malik, Ahad Khan Cheema, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Attaullah Tarar, Muhammad Ali, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Lt Gen (retd) Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and Talha Barki. The Finance Secretary, the NADRA chairman, the Power Secretary, the head of the PM Office's Government Relations Unit, an energy expert it nominates and Dr Sohail Anwar Ch also sit on it.

The committee has two months from 18 October to send its recommendations, which puts the deadline around mid-December.

What it has been asked to do

• Review the current subsidy system and list where it fails.
• Recommend which untargeted subsidies should be phased out or restructured.
• Work out how to link subsidy payments to BISP and its beneficiary database.
• Cost the change and suggest how to limit the burden on the budget while protecting poor consumers from sudden jumps in their bills.
• Assess the effect on each group of consumers and propose a phased rollout.

The money involved

Business Recorder put the total subsidy bill at about Rs 1.091 trillion, with Rs 830 billion allocated to the power sector for 2026-27. The paper said the shift is tied to Pakistan's commitments under its IMF and World Bank programmes.

What it could mean for your bill

Today, relief is decided mostly by how many units a household uses. The government is now considering changes to relief for consumers using up to 200 units a month, and eligibility would increasingly depend on an assessment of the household's circumstances, not on consumption alone. The beneficiary identification framework has not been finalised yet, so no household has been told it will lose or gain relief.

Until the plan is announced, nothing changes on the November or December bill because of this committee. To see how much a change in slab or rate would move your own bill, run your units through our electricity bill calculator or the electricity units calculator.

What to do now

If your family may qualify for targeted help, the key record is your BISP status. Check it with your CNIC on 8171 and make sure your household details at NADRA are current: our guide to the BISP 8171 check explains how. Be wary of anyone who asks for money to "register" you for an electricity subsidy: BISP registration is free.