MEPCO Detection Bill System Going Digital – September 2026

MEPCO consumers may see a major change in how detection bills are handled after the Power Division ordered electricity distribution companies to move the process toward a digital and automated system.

The decision was announced on 4 September 2026. It applies to Pakistan’s distribution companies, which places Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) within the scope of the reform.

The change targets a specific problem: detection bills based on estimated consumption have sometimes failed to match a consumer’s actual electricity use.

Why the Detection Billing System Is Being Changed

The Power Division said detection billing can involve estimated consumption when a meter malfunctions, develops a technical fault, or cannot record electricity use accurately.

In some cases, those estimates produced inflated bills and lengthy disputes.

The government also identified human intervention and discretionary decision-making as areas that could create questions about billing transparency.

The September reform is meant to reduce that manual discretion by moving detection billing toward a digitized and automated process.

This does not mean detection bills have been abolished.

It changes how the government wants the process to be controlled and checked.

What Will Change for MEPCO

The Power Division directed all distribution companies to take the measures needed for the new system and incorporate the required changes into NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual (CSM).

The announced framework has two notable features:

• detection billing will move toward digital automation with less manual intervention;
• detection bills and their related recovery will be reviewed every month.

That monthly review is meant to flag overbilling and abnormal trends early enough for corrective action.

For MEPCO consumers, this matters because oversight would not stop when a detection bill is generated. The associated recovery data would also form part of the monitoring process.

No New Detection Bill Formula Was Announced

The September 4 announcement does not publish a new MEPCO detection-bill formula.

It also does not give a new calculation rate, detection period, consumer category rule, or automatic adjustment method.

Those details should not be invented or inferred from the announcement.

As of 16 September 2026, NEPRA’s legal section still lists the Revised/Updated Consumer Service Manual dated 26 November 2025 as its latest consolidated CSM. The Power Division has directed DISCOs to incorporate the changes needed for the new mechanism, but the September 4 release does not provide a nationwide rollout date.

That distinction matters.

The reform has been announced and directed; the official release does not establish that every MEPCO detection bill is already being produced through a fully automated replacement system.

What the Reform Does — and Does Not — Promise

The official announcement supports several clear conclusions.

MEPCO detection billing is part of a wider move toward automation. Manual discretion is intended to be reduced. Detection billing and recovery are to face monthly monitoring, with overbilling and abnormal patterns singled out for review.

It does not say that:

• every existing detection bill will be cancelled;
• consumers will automatically receive refunds;
• human involvement will disappear completely;
• artificial intelligence will calculate detection bills;
• the reform guarantees that billing disputes will never occur.

Those claims go beyond what the Power Division announced.

If a detection charge appears on your statement, you can first check your current MEPCO bill and keep the billing record available for comparison.

What to Watch Next

The next material development will be the regulatory or operational detail that puts this reform into practice.

That could include amendments to the Consumer Service Manual, implementation directions for DISCOs, or a confirmed rollout mechanism.

Until such documents are issued, the September 4 decision should be treated as a confirmed detection-billing reform, not as proof that a completely new billing formula is already active across MEPCO.

Official source: Ministry of Energy (Power Division), Government of Pakistan — Press Information Department, PR No. 48, issued 4 September 2026.