Business Desk 
Jun 29, 2025
A person holds a bill in their hand. — KE
In a decision speculated to provide relief to millions of electricity users, the federal government is poised to remove the Rs35 monthly Pakistan Television (PTV) fee currently charged through electricity bills.
The News reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government is expected to make a formal announcement soon, ending a longstanding levy that affects over 40 million residential, commercial, and industrial power consumers across the country.
The fee, long a source of public discontent, has generated around Rs1.5 billion per month, nearly Rs16 billion a year, for the state-run broadcaster through automatic deductions from utility bills.
With the removal of the PTV fee, the federal government aims at reducing the financial burden on the common man and real relief in electricity bills, a senior official familiar with the matter said.
Earlier this week, in a significant move that could ease electricity pricing pressure, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) slashed the national average Power Purchase Price (PPP) to Rs25.98 per unit for the fiscal year 2025-26 — down 3.77% (or Rs1.02/unit) from the current Rs27/unit.
On a per unit basis, energy charges for XWdiscos are calculated at Rs9.67/unit, while capacity charges make up Rs16.67/unit, resulting in a total of Rs26.34/unit before transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.
The new PPP is Rs1.02/unit less than the ongoing fiscal’s Rs27/unit average when the total power purchase cost stood at Rs3.534 trillion.
The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA-G), in its petition to NEPRA, outlined seven PPP scenarios for FY26 based on varying assumptions of demand growth (3–5%), exchange rates (Rs280–300/USD), and hydrological flows.
Proposed fuel charges range from Rs8.16/unit to Rs9.19/unit, while capacity payments under different scenarios are projected between Rs16.04/unit and Rs16.45/unit — continuing the trend where capacity charges dominate the power purchase cost.
