LAHORE:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday announced a major relief measure for flood-hit people, directing electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) to immediately stop collecting August 2025 electricity bills in flood-affected areas.
Chairing a high-level meeting on the issue, the prime minister said a comprehensive relief package regarding electricity bills for the affected regions would be finalized and announced after the conclusion of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
He further instructed DISCOs to adjust bills already paid by flood-affected consumers for August 2025 in the upcoming month’s bills.
Highlighting the scale of devastation, Shehbaz said floods had displaced and affected millions of people across Pakistan. “In this difficult time, we are making every possible effort to ease the pain of our people,” he added.
He said that federal and provincial institutions were fully engaged in rescue and rehabilitation operations. “We will not rest until every flood victim has returned to their home,” he vowed.
Torrential rains and floods have caused heavy losses of life and property in northern Pakistan — Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa — as well as Punjab. While flood levels are now stabilizing in Punjab, Sindh remains under threat.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Saturday expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his timely and people friendly decision to waive electricity bills for flood-affected areas.
In a statement, the minister said electricity bills of August had been completely waived for consumers in the flood-hit regions. He added that the amounts already collected would be refunded to the people.
“The Power Division will ensure immediate implementation of the Prime Minister’s directive,” Leghari said, reaffirming the government’s commitment to provide relief to citizens facing hardships due to floods.
The Express Tribune had reported on Saturday that the government decided to provide relief in electricity bills to consumers and sought the International Monetary Fund’s nod for this purpose.
After the prime minister’s instructions, the ministry held a virtual meeting with the IMF and sought its endorsement for the waiver of the bills, they added.
The Pakistani authorities requested the IMF to defer the bills for three months on the grounds that similar relief had been offered in 2022 in the flood-affected areas. The IMF has sought more data, which the Power Division would provide within this week.
Sources said that so far consumers in the regions of the Lahore Electricity Supply Company, Gujranwala Electric Power Company, Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company and Multan Electric Power Company have been adversely affected by the biblical deluge. There are chances that consumers of the Sukkur Electric Power Company will also be impacted by the floods.
