Islamabad: Acting on the direction of Federal Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, the Power Division has formally requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to abolish the application fee and remove the license requirement for solar consumers of 25 kilowatts and below. This move aims to address the adverse effects of the new Prosumer Regulations, which shifted approval authority to NEPRA and introduced fees even for small solar facilities.

According to Press Information Department, the previous regulations from 2015 allowed distributed generation facilities of 25 kilowatts or below to operate without a license from NEPRA, with applications processed directly by Distribution Companies (DISCOs) without any fee. This served as a fiscal incentive for residential users. The regulatory shift has been flagged by the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) and met with formal objections from the Pakistan Solar Association and other stakeholders, who argue that the changes create bureaucratic hurdles and slow the national drive toward alternative energy adoption. The Power Division has now formally requested NEPRA to reinstate the earlier practice for these smaller systems.