Overview
- NEPRA, which issued a notification Tuesday, removed licensing and fees for rooftop solar systems of 25 kW or less and made the change effective from February 9, 2026.
- Projects larger than 25 kW will pay a one-time licensing fee of Rs1,000 per kW to the regulator.
- The reversal followed a request from the Power Division under Minister Awais Leghari after criticism of rules that had centralised approvals with NEPRA and added application costs.
- The decision restores the 2015 setup where distribution companies handled small systems without a NEPRA licence, and officials clarified that off-grid systems need no federal approval while net-metered systems still require regulatory concurrence.
- Households and small businesses now face lower upfront costs and fewer hurdles to connect to the grid, though disputes over high tariffs, fixed charges, low solar buyback rates and capacity payments still cloud the power sector.