The Lahore High Court has upheld the policy replacing free electricity units with fixed monetary amounts for in-service BPS-17-and-above officers at WAPDA and specified power-sector entities. The 16 February 2026 judgment dismissed the GEPCO Engineers & Officers Association’s challenge to the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) notification of 5 December 2023. It does not apply to every Grade-17 officer in Pakistan.
What did the Lahore High Court decide?
In Writ Petition No. 171 of 2024, the court upheld the government’s monetization policy and dismissed the association’s constitutional petition. Justice Malik Javid Iqbal Wains concluded that the notification “does not warrant any interference by this court and the same is hereby upheld,” as quoted by Dawn.
The notification requires covered employees to pay electricity bills issued by their respective distribution companies against the reference numbers already on file. The former unit benefit is represented instead by fixed amounts tied to the employee’s grade and, for some grades, employing category.
Which officers are covered?
The policy concerns in-service BPS-17-and-above employees of WAPDA and specified ex-WAPDA entities: distribution companies (DISCOs), generation companies (GENCOs), the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), and the Power Information Technology Company (PITC). It is not a ruling about all BPS-17 officers or all public-sector employees.
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The National Assembly document records that the Federal Cabinet decided on 26 October 2023 to monetize free units for BPS-17-and-above employees; the Power Division conveyed the decision to the relevant organizations on 5 December 2023. The judgment concerns that notification.
What amounts does the notification list?
The judgment reproduces a schedule of former unit allocations and corresponding monetization amounts. The amounts were calculated using the tariff notified in S.R.O. No. 938–947(1)/2023 on 26 July 2023, excluding taxes and duties; the judgment says the rates were frozen for the future.
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| Grade | Non-generation and WAPDA | Generation |
|---|---|---|
| BPS-17 | 450 units; Rs 15,858 | 650 units; Rs 24,570 |
| BPS-18 | 600 units; Rs 21,996 | 700 units; Rs 26,460 |
| BPS-19 | 880 units; Rs 37,594 | 1,000 units; Rs 42,720 |
| BPS-20 | 1,100 units; Rs 46,992 | 1,100 units; Rs 46,992 |
| BPS-22 | 1,300 units; Rs 55,536 | 1,300 units; Rs 55,536 |
The BPS-20 amount is listed without a separate category distinction in the judgment’s schedule. The schedule has no BPS-21 row, and no WAPDA amount is listed for BPS-22. These are schedule figures reproduced in the judgment, not a calculation of any employee’s net pay or current electricity bill.
Do officers still receive cash instead of free units?
The policy replaces the unit facility with fixed monetary amounts linked to the former allocation, while requiring employees to pay their electricity bills. The published schedule does not establish that an individual’s overall compensation or electricity cost will be the same as under the former arrangement; an employee’s actual bill depends on consumption and applicable charges.
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- INSTALLS IN CIRCUIT PANEL of most homes with clamp-on sensors. Supports Single phase, Single-split phase, and 2-wire systems. 3-wire systems; 3-phase, 4-wire Wye systems with earthed (TN or TT) neutral (no-Delta) are supported with an additional 200A sensor (sold separately).
- 24/7 ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING: Automate, manage and control your home's real power anywhere, anytime to prevent costly repairs, conserve energy, and save costs. Monitor solar / net metering. PROTECTED BY A 1-YEAR WARRANTY.
- LOWER YOUR ELECTRIC BILL: Configure settings in the Emporia Energy App to automate energy management for time of use, peak demand, excess solar, and rewards programs. You can even see live reporting and invaluable savings opportunities instantly. Gauge real-time spending and get actionable notifications and automated energy management to help you reduce costs.
- REAL-TIME ENERGY DATA: REQUIRES 2.4 GHz WIFI WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION to monitor energy use with iPhone / Android / Web app. Vue sensors collect energy data and are accurate from ±2%. The Vue is UL and CE Listed for your safety. 1 second data is only available in the app (when actively open) and retained 3 hours. Minute and hour data are retained in the cloud. 1 minute data is retained 7 days, 1 hour data is retained indefinitely. Export cloud data whenever you want in the app.
Dawn reported that BPS-18-to-22 officers collectively used 75 million units, at a cost of up to Rs 4–4.5 billion annually. That is a reported estimate, not a figure established by the court; the article does not state the estimate’s methodology.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why did the court reject the challenge?
The association argued that free units were part of officers’ appointment terms, that employees in BPS-1-to-16 continued to receive them, and that withdrawing the benefit from officers was unlawful, discriminatory, and unconstitutional. Those were the petitioners’ arguments.
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The court treated the electricity units as a service-linked privilege, not a core service right, statutory entitlement, or pensionable benefit. It found that the petitioners had identified no statutory rule making the units an enforceable right. In the court’s view, a competent authority could alter, monetize, or withdraw a non-statutory privilege for operational and financial reasons.
On the discrimination claim, the court treated BPS-17-and-above officers as a distinct cadre for this policy and rejected the challenge. The government’s counsel described the change as intended to streamline administration and address duplication, delayed recoveries, liquidity constraints, circular debt, and operational losses. Those were the government’s stated rationales summarized in the judgment, not independently measured effects.
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What is not established about the ruling’s current status?
The judgment is dated 16 February 2026. The available reporting and documents do not establish whether it was later appealed, stayed, or modified, nor do they verify how the schedule was applied to individual payrolls. Employees assessing their own pay or bill should consult current employer and payroll records rather than infer a personal net amount from the court’s schedule.
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