If you open your electricity bill one month and find a large extra amount that you were not expecting, with a note about “detection” or unmetered use, it can feel like a shock. The amount is often much bigger than your normal monthly bill, and the explanation on the bill itself is often very short. For years, many consumers in Pakistan have complained that such bills arrived without a clear explanation of how the amount was calculated, which months it covered, or what evidence the company had.
On 23 October 2026, the Power Division took a clear step on this problem. After Federal Minister for Energy Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari met the boards of the power distribution companies, known as DISCOs, the Power Division ordered all DISCOs to issue detection bills exclusively through a centralised online portal developed by PITC, the Power Information Technology Company. Manual and discretionary detection bills issued by field staff or sub-divisional officers, known as SDOs, are now banned. Issuing such a bill is treated as severe misconduct, liable to disciplinary proceedings and major penalties.
This is a real change in the rules, but it is important to understand exactly what it does and does not do. It does not cancel every detection bill automatically. It does not give consumers a new website where they can check their own detection bill online yet. And it does not, on its own, settle older bills that were issued before 23 October 2026. What it does give you is a much stronger position when you question a detection bill, because you can now ask one simple, powerful question in writing: was this bill issued through the PITC portal, as the new rule requires?
This guide explains, in simple words, what a detection bill is, what changed on 23 October 2026, how to check a detection bill you receive now, what to write in your complaint, and where to go if the company does not settle your case. It also clearly separates what is now in force from what has only been proposed and still needs approval, so you do not act on a rule that does not exist yet.
What Is a Detection Bill?
A detection bill is an extra charge that an electricity distribution company raises when it says electricity was used without being properly metered. In plain language, the company is claiming that the meter did not record all the electricity that was actually consumed, so the consumer must pay for the missing units on top of the normal bill.
The two examples most commonly given are a tampered meter and a direct hook, sometimes called a “kunda”. A tampered meter is a meter that has allegedly been altered so that it records less electricity than was used. A direct hook is a connection taken directly from the supply line, bypassing the meter altogether, so the electricity used through that connection is never recorded at all.
Detection bills are different from your normal monthly bill. Your normal bill charges you for the units shown on your meter reading for that month. A detection bill looks backwards: it tries to estimate how much electricity was used without being metered, over some period of time, and charges for those estimated units. That is exactly why detection bills cause so many disputes. The amount depends on an estimate, and the consumer often cannot see how that estimate was made.
If you receive a detection bill, the first thing to do is to slow down and read it carefully. Check the total amount, the number of units charged, and the period it claims to cover. Check whether it says anything about the meter, the inspection, or the method used to calculate the amount. Keep the bill safe, and keep a copy or a clear photograph of it. Do not throw it away, even if you believe it is wrong, because you will need it for every step that follows.
What Changed on 23 October 2026?
The change announced on 23 October 2026 is about how detection bills are issued, not about whether detection bills exist at all. Detection billing itself has not been abolished. What has been banned is the manual, discretionary way of issuing it.
Under the new order, all DISCOs must issue detection bills exclusively through the centralised online portal developed by PITC. That means a detection bill should come through a single, central system, rather than being prepared by hand by field staff or by an SDO on their own authority. The purpose is to remove the room for personal discretion, and to create a proper record of every detection bill that is issued.
The order also carries a serious warning for staff. Issuing a manual detection bill is now treated as severe or serious misconduct, and staff who do it face disciplinary proceedings and major penalties. That matters for consumers, because it gives the rule real weight. A company officer cannot simply ignore the portal requirement and hand out a bill prepared outside the system without facing consequences under the new order.
There is a second part to the change that is easy to miss but just as important. The boards of the DISCOs, along with their customer-service committees, must now review detection bills every month. These monthly reviews are meant to check detection bills for accuracy, transparency and legitimacy. In other words, detection bills are no longer supposed to be issued and then forgotten. They must be looked at regularly by the company’s own board-level oversight, to check whether the amounts are correct, whether the process was transparent, and whether the bill was genuinely justified.
The government DISCOs covered by the order are LESCO, IESCO, FESCO, GEPCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, SEPCO, QESCO and TESCO. These are the state-owned distribution companies that supply electricity across most of Pakistan, from Lahore and Islamabad to Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta and the tribal areas.
What “Manual Bills Banned” Actually Means for You
The most practical meaning of the ban is simple: if a detection bill reaches you now, it should have come through the PITC portal. If it did not, or if nobody can show that it did, that is a strong point in your favour when you challenge it.
However, there is one important limitation that consumers need to know about. As of late October 2026, no public, consumer-facing PITC portal address has been found where an ordinary consumer can go online and check their own detection bill. Reports covering the announcement could not locate a portal link that consumers can use themselves. That means the honest advice is not “go and check on the portal”. The honest advice is to ask the company, in writing, to confirm whether your bill was issued through the PITC portal, and to show you the details that support it.
This distinction matters. If an article tells you to check a portal that does not have a public consumer link, you will waste time searching for something you cannot find. The useful step is the written question, because a written question creates a record. A verbal assurance at a customer-service counter does not. Always put your questions in writing, keep a copy, and keep proof that you submitted them, such as a receiving stamp, a reference number, or a screenshot of an online complaint form.
Another point to be clear about: the ban does not automatically cancel a detection bill. It changes how a bill must be issued and gives you a strong ground to challenge a bill that was not issued properly. But the bill itself still needs to be questioned through the complaint process. Do not simply stop paying everything and assume the bill will disappear. As explained below, the safer approach is to pay the undisputed part of your normal bill on time, and to challenge the disputed detection amount through the proper channel.
How to Check a Detection Bill You Receive Now
When a detection bill arrives, work through the following checks before you pay the disputed amount or accept it. Each check is a question you can also put to the company in writing.
First, ask whether the bill was issued through the PITC portal. This is now the central question. Ask for written confirmation, and ask for any portal reference or case number connected to the bill, if one exists. If the company cannot confirm portal issuance, say so in your complaint, and quote the 23 October 2026 order.
Second, ask which months the detection bill covers. A detection bill should relate to a defined period. If the bill does not clearly state the months, or if the period seems unusually long, ask for the exact start and end dates of the period, in writing.
Third, ask what method was used to calculate the amount. Was it based on the connected load? On average consumption? On a meter test? On an inspection report? Ask for the calculation, not just the final figure. A bill that shows only a total, with no working, is very hard for a consumer to verify, and that is a fair point to raise.
Fourth, ask what evidence the company has. Was there an inspection? Was a meter test carried out? Was anything found at the premises? Ask for copies of the inspection or test record, if the company says one exists. You are not asking for a favour. You are asking for the basis of a charge that you are being asked to pay.
Fifth, check the bill against your own record. Look at your normal bills for the same period. Were you already charged for those months? Does the detection amount overlap with units you already paid for? Double charging for the same electricity is one of the most common complaints in detection cases, and comparing the detection bill with your past bills is the simplest way to spot it.
The table below summarises what to check and what to ask for each point.
| What to check | What to ask the company in writing |
|---|---|
| Was the bill issued through the PITC portal? | Written confirmation of portal issuance, plus any portal reference or case number |
| Which months does it cover? | Exact start and end dates of the detection period |
| How was the amount calculated? | The full calculation, including units, rate and method used |
| What evidence supports it? | Copies of the inspection report or meter-test record, if any |
| Does it overlap with bills already paid? | A statement showing that already-paid units were not charged again |
| Is the bill signed and authorised properly? | The name, designation and office of the officer who approved it |
Keep every reply you receive. If the company answers verbally, follow up with a short written note recording what was said and when. If the company does not answer a written question, that silence is itself useful evidence when you take the matter further.
What to Write in Your Complaint
Start by complaining to the company itself. This is the first step in the complaint route described in coverage of the new rules. Write a short, polite and factual complaint. You do not need legal language. You need clear facts, clear questions, and a clear request.
Your complaint should include your name, your consumer or reference number, your address, and the bill number and date of the detection bill. Then state, in your own words, that you are disputing the detection bill and why. For example, you can say that the bill does not show the period it covers, or that no calculation or inspection record was provided, or that you have not received confirmation that it was issued through the PITC portal as required by the 23 October 2026 order.
Then list your questions, using the checks above. Ask for written confirmation of portal issuance, the exact detection period, the full calculation, and any inspection or meter-test record. Then state what you are asking the company to do: review the bill, correct it if the calculation is wrong, or withdraw it if it was not issued through the portal. Ask for a written reply, and ask for a complaint reference number.
Keep a copy of the complaint and proof of submission. If you submit it at an office, ask for a receiving stamp on your copy. If you submit it online, save the reference number and a screenshot. If you send it by post, keep the postal receipt. These small steps matter, because the next stage of the process depends on showing that you complained to the company first, and on showing how long the company took to deal with it.
While your complaint is being considered, pay the undisputed part of your normal bill on time. The undisputed part is the amount you accept as correct, such as your regular monthly charges. Paying it on time protects you from disconnection or late-payment charges on the part of the bill that is not in dispute, while your challenge to the detection amount continues separately. Do not let a dispute over one extra charge turn into a problem with your regular supply.
If the Company Does Not Settle Your Case
If the company does not settle your complaint within 15 days, the route described in coverage of the new rules is to take the matter to NEPRA, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority. NEPRA is the regulator for the power sector, and it handles consumer complaints against distribution companies that have not been resolved at the company level.
Before you approach NEPRA, gather your file. You will need a copy of the detection bill, a copy of your complaint to the company, proof that you submitted it, any reply the company gave, and your recent normal bills for comparison. A short timeline also helps: the date you received the detection bill, the date you complained, and the fact that 15 days have passed without a settlement. Present the facts in order, without exaggeration, and attach copies of everything you mention.
It is worth noting one honest limitation here. The 15-day company-first route is the complaint path described in coverage of the announcement, and consumers should check the current Consumer Service Manual for the exact procedure that applies to their case before filing, because procedures and forms can change. What does not change is the basic principle: complain to the company first, keep the record, and escalate only after the company has had its chance to settle the matter.
You should also know that the monthly board-level reviews of detection bills, ordered on 23 October 2026, are a separate layer of oversight inside the companies. They do not replace your individual complaint. If your bill is wrong, you still need to complain yourself. The monthly review is a reason to be hopeful that badly prepared bills will be caught more often, but it is not a substitute for your own written challenge.
What About Bills Issued Before 23 October 2026?
This is one of the most common questions, and the honest answer is that the announcement says nothing clear about it. The 23 October 2026 order bans manual detection bills from that point onwards and requires portal issuance. It does not say, in the material reported so far, whether detection bills already issued before that date will be reviewed, withdrawn, or re-issued through the portal.
That means you should not assume that an older manual detection bill will automatically be reviewed or cancelled because of the new rule. If you already have an older detection bill that you believe is wrong, the practical step is the same as for a new bill: challenge it in writing, ask for the period, the calculation and the evidence, and follow the company-first complaint route. You can mention the new portal rule in your complaint as supporting context, but you should not promise yourself, or tell anyone else, that the old bill will definitely be reviewed under it. Until the Power Division or a DISCO says something specific about older bills, that question remains open.
The same caution applies to any claim that older bills have already been cancelled in bulk. No such bulk cancellation has been reported in connection with the 23 October 2026 order. If someone tells you that all old detection bills are now void, ask them to show you the official order that says so. If they cannot, treat the claim as unverified.
The Proposed Caps That Are NOT Law Yet
Alongside the portal order, changes to the Consumer Service Manual have been discussed, and these proposals are sometimes reported in a way that makes them sound like they are already in force. They are not. The amendments are to be submitted in the coming days and still need NEPRA approval. Until that approval happens, none of the following caps should be treated as a rule you can rely on.
The proposals, as reported, include replacing a defective or burnt meter immediately or within a maximum of two billing cycles, and capping average billing at two months. They also include limiting recovery or credit for a slow or fast meter to the previous two billing cycles, fixing detection for general consumers at three billing cycles, and capping the maximum detection period at six months for registered consumers and twelve months for unregistered consumers.
These proposals, if approved, would be very helpful for consumers, because they would put a clear outer limit on how far back a detection bill could reach. But they are proposals, not law. If you are writing a complaint today, you can mention that such amendments have been proposed and are awaiting approval, but you should not claim that a six-month or twelve-month cap already applies to your bill. Mixing up a proposal with a rule weakens your complaint, because the company can correctly reply that the cap has not been approved yet. Keep the two things separate: the portal rule is in force from 23 October 2026, and the caps are still waiting for NEPRA’s decision.
This is also a good reason to follow the news on this topic after you file your complaint. If NEPRA approves the amendments, the caps may change what you can argue in your case. Check for an official NEPRA decision, rather than relying on social-media posts that may present the proposals as already approved.
Does This Apply in Karachi?
This is another question that needs a careful answer. The press material reported so far names the government DISCOs: LESCO, IESCO, FESCO, GEPCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, SEPCO, QESCO and TESCO. It does not mention K-Electric, the privately-owned company that supplies electricity to Karachi.
That means Karachi consumers should not assume they are covered by this order in the same way. K-Electric operates under a different ownership and licensing arrangement, and the reported order does not name it. If you are a K-Electric consumer and you receive a detection bill, you can still ask the company for the period, the calculation and the evidence, and you can still complain through the company’s own process and then to the regulator if needed. But you should not claim, in your complaint or anywhere else, that the 23 October 2026 portal order covers K-Electric, unless an official statement says so in future. Until then, Karachi’s position is unconfirmed, and honest reporting must leave it that way.
For consumers in the areas served by the ten named government DISCOs, the position is clearer. The order applies to your company, and the portal question is a fair and direct question to ask.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The first mistake is paying a detection bill in full without questioning it, simply because it looks official. A bill that arrives on company letterhead is still a claim that must be supported by a period, a calculation and evidence. Paying it without asking questions can make it much harder to get the money back later.
The second mistake is the opposite: ignoring the bill completely and paying nothing at all. Ignoring the whole bill, including the undisputed normal charges, can lead to disconnection or extra charges that have nothing to do with the detection dispute. Pay the undisputed part on time, and challenge the disputed part in writing.
The third mistake is relying on verbal promises. If a company officer tells you at the counter that the bill will be corrected, ask for it in writing, with a reference number. If the correction does not happen, a verbal promise is very hard to prove. A written record is your protection.
The fourth mistake is acting on proposals as if they were law. As explained above, the caps on detection periods are still proposals awaiting NEPRA approval. Do not quote a six-month or twelve-month cap as a rule in your complaint until it has actually been approved and published.
The fifth mistake is trusting social-media claims about the portal. Because no public consumer-facing PITC portal link has been found so far, any link shared on social media claiming to be the official detection-bill portal should be treated with caution. Do not enter your consumer number, CNIC number or other personal details on an unverified website. Ask the company, in writing, for the official position on portal issuance for your bill, rather than trusting a forwarded link.
The sixth mistake is missing the 15-day point. If you complain to the company and hear nothing, do not wait for months before escalating. Keep a note of the date you complained, and if 15 days pass without a settlement, prepare your escalation to NEPRA with your full file. A complaint that is left to drift is much weaker than one that is followed up on time.
A Simple Checklist Before You Pay or Challenge
To sum up, here is a short checklist you can use the moment a detection bill arrives. First, read the bill and keep a copy. Second, compare it with your normal bills for the same period, and check for overlap. Third, write to the company and ask whether it was issued through the PITC portal, which months it covers, how the amount was calculated, and what evidence supports it. Fourth, pay the undisputed part of your normal bill on time. Fifth, keep every reply and every reference number. Sixth, if the company does not settle your complaint within 15 days, escalate to NEPRA with your complete file. Seventh, do not rely on the proposed caps until NEPRA approves them, and do not assume Karachi is covered until an official statement says so.
Detection bills affect real household budgets, and a single unexplained bill can be larger than several months of normal charges. The 23 October 2026 order does not solve every problem on its own, but it does change the balance. A detection bill must now come through a central system, not from a single officer’s discretion, and companies must review such bills every month at board level. For consumers, the practical benefit is a clear, written question that can be asked in every case: was this bill issued through the PITC portal? Ask it in writing, keep the answer, and follow the complaint route if the answer is missing or unsatisfactory. That is how a new rule becomes real protection, one written complaint at a time.
The portal rule itself was reported on 23 October 2026 by Profit, which covered the Power Division’s order for DISCOs to issue detection bills exclusively through PITC’s centralised online portal, with manual bills treated as severe misconduct.
FAQs
1. What is a detection bill?
A detection bill is an extra charge raised when an electricity company says electricity was used without being properly metered, for example because of a tampered meter or a direct hook that bypassed the meter. It is separate from your normal monthly bill, because it estimates the unmetered electricity used over a period of time, rather than charging for the units shown on a meter reading for one month. If you receive one, check the period it covers, the calculation, and the evidence behind it before accepting the amount.
2. Are manual detection bills really banned now?
Yes, according to the Power Division order reported on 23 October 2026, manual and discretionary detection bills by field staff or SDOs are banned, and all DISCOs must issue detection bills exclusively through PITC’s centralised online portal. Issuing a manual detection bill is treated as severe misconduct, liable to disciplinary proceedings and major penalties. However, the ban changes how bills must be issued; it does not automatically cancel a bill, so you still need to challenge a disputed bill in writing through the complaint process.
3. Can I check my detection bill on the PITC portal myself?
Not yet, as far as publicly available information shows. No consumer-facing PITC portal address has been found where an ordinary consumer can check their own detection bill online. Instead of searching for an unverified link, ask your distribution company in writing whether your bill was issued through the PITC portal, and ask for any portal reference, the exact period covered, the full calculation, and any inspection or meter-test record. Keep the company’s written reply as part of your record.
4. What should I do if my company does not settle my detection-bill complaint?
First complain to the company itself, in writing, and keep a copy with proof of submission. Pay the undisputed part of your normal bill on time while the dispute continues. If the company does not settle your complaint within 15 days, take the matter to NEPRA, the power-sector regulator, with your complete file: the detection bill,
your complaint, proof of submission, any company reply, and your recent normal bills
for comparison. Also remember that the proposed caps on detection periods, such as six months for registered consumers, are not yet law and still need NEPRA approval, so do not rely on them until they are formally approved.
Also read
Check Electricity Bill Online in Pakistan: The One Official Portal for Every DISCO (Plus K-Electric)
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