Specialist work
Net metering and net billing applications
The application, the documentation and the distribution company liaison — handled by the engineer who designed the system, because the file has to match the installation.
Feb 2026
Net billing replaced net metering
NEPRA Prosumer Regulations 2026 — verified 29 Jul 2026
~1/3
Buyback share of the old rate
NEPRA Prosumer Regulations 2026 — verified 29 Jul 2026
Day one
When the application starts
It runs alongside installation rather than after it
Whether this fits
Work out whether you should be talking to me at all
This is for you if
You have a grid connection and intend to export surplus
Without an approved arrangement and a bidirectional meter, exported units are simply given away.
Your system is being installed now, or is already installed
The application runs alongside installation. Starting it afterwards adds weeks to the point at which you begin getting credited.
Your sanctioned load and proposed capacity need to be reconciled
This is the most common reason applications are held up — the proposed capacity sits wrong against the sanctioned load, and the file comes back.
You have an existing system whose application stalled
Stalled files are usually a documentation or protection-compliance problem rather than a refusal, and they can generally be unstuck.
This is not for you if
Off-grid sites with no connection — there is nothing to apply for, and anyone selling you an application does not understand your system.
Anyone wanting a guaranteed approval date. The timeline is the distribution company’s, not mine, and I will not invent one to win the work.
Owners hoping the application will restore pre-February 2026 buyback rates. It will not. The regime changed and no paperwork undoes that.
Scope
What is included, as deliverables rather than adjectives
- 01 Eligibility and capacity check
- Proposed capacity reconciled against sanctioned load and connection category before the file is opened.
- 02 Document preparation
- Application forms, CNIC and ownership documents, connection agreement, SLD and equipment datasheets assembled as a complete file.
- 03 Technical compliance
- Protection arrangements and inverter certification checked against requirements — the usual reason a file is returned.
- 04 Submission and follow-through
- Filed with your DISCO and chased. You are told where it actually is rather than that it is "in process".
- 05 Inspection attendance
- I attend the distribution company inspection personally, because questions get asked that only the designer can answer.
- 06 Meter installation and verification
- Bidirectional meter installation witnessed, and the first bills checked to confirm it is recording both directions correctly.
Net metering is a paperwork problem wearing an engineering costume. The technical requirements are not difficult — the difficulty is that the file has to be complete, internally consistent, and consistent with what is physically on your roof, and it is returned when it is not.
I prepare and follow through applications with LESCO, FESCO, GEPCO, MEPCO and the other distribution companies, for systems I have designed and for systems I have not.
What February 2026 changed
Under the old net metering regime, exported units offset imported units at close to parity — the meter effectively ran backwards. Under net billing, introduced by NEPRA in February 2026 under the Prosumer Regulations 2026, export and import are priced separately and exported units are bought back at roughly a third of the old rate.
The application process itself is broadly unchanged. What changed is what the arrangement is worth to you — and therefore how large a system it is rational to have applied for in the first place. Anyone quoting you a payback that assumes pre-February buyback rates is quoting from a regime that no longer exists.
Why applications actually get held up
- Proposed capacity inconsistent with sanctioned load. The most common single cause, and entirely avoidable at design stage.
- Incomplete ownership or connection documentation — a name on the bill that does not match the applicant, most often.
- Inverter certification not evidenced. The datasheet has to actually demonstrate compliance, not merely exist.
- Protection and earthing arrangements that do not match the submitted single-line diagram.
- An installation that has changed since the drawing was filed. If a string layout was altered on site, the file has to follow.
Every one of these is a design-stage problem surfacing at application stage, which is the argument for the person who designed the system being the person who files the paperwork.
The capacity-against-sanctioned-load problem
Because this defeats more applications than everything else combined, it is worth stating plainly. Your connection agreement carries a sanctioned load — the maximum demand your connection is contracted to supply. Distribution companies assess a proposed generation capacity against that figure, and a proposal that sits wrong against it comes back.
The trap is that the capacity you might want on engineering grounds and the capacity that will clear the application are not always the same number. A site with a large roof and a modest sanctioned load can be offered a system that makes sense electrically and cannot be approved as filed.
There are usually two routes: size within the sanctioned load, or apply to have the sanctioned load revised — which is its own process with its own timeline and cost. Which one is right is a commercial judgement rather than a technical one, and it should be made before equipment is ordered rather than after the file comes back.
How long it takes
Several weeks is normal, and it varies by distribution company and by how complete the file is when it lands. I will not give you a guaranteed date, because it is not mine to guarantee. What I will do is start it on day one rather than after commissioning, tell you where the file actually is when you ask, and attend the inspection myself.
One practical note: your system can generate and offset your own consumption before the bidirectional meter is installed. What you cannot do until then is get credited for anything exported. On a well-matched daytime load, that means most of the benefit arrives before the paperwork does.
Sources
- NEPRA Prosumer Regulations 2026 — net billing regime, effective February 2026 Checked 29 Jul 2026
Questions
What clients ask before they commit
- What documents are required for a net metering application in Pakistan?
- The application form, CNIC and proof of ownership, your existing connection agreement and a recent bill, the system single-line diagram, and datasheets evidencing inverter certification and protection arrangements. The file also has to be internally consistent — the most common reason for rejection is a proposed capacity that sits wrong against the sanctioned load on the connection agreement.
- How long does net metering approval take?
- Several weeks is typical, varying by distribution company and by how complete the file is on submission. I will not promise a date, because the timeline belongs to the DISCO rather than to me. I do start the application alongside installation rather than after it, and I attend the inspection personally so that technical questions get answered on the spot rather than generating another round.
- What is the difference between net metering and net billing?
- Under net metering, exported units offset imported units at close to parity. Under net billing — introduced by NEPRA in February 2026 under the Prosumer Regulations 2026 — export and import are priced separately, and exported units are bought back at roughly a third of the old rate. The application process is broadly similar; what changed is the value of exporting, and therefore the system size that makes sense. These figures were last verified on 29 July 2026.
- Can you fix a net metering application that has stalled?
- Usually. A stalled file is generally a documentation gap or a protection-compliance issue rather than a refusal, and both are fixable. I will need to see what was submitted and what is physically installed, because the frequent cause is that the two no longer match — a string layout changed on site and the drawing was never updated.
- Can I use my solar system before the net meter is installed?
- Yes. The system generates and offsets your own consumption as soon as it is commissioned. What you cannot do until the bidirectional meter is in place is receive credit for exported units. On a site whose load matches its generation well, most of the financial benefit is already arriving before the meter changes.
- Do you handle applications for systems you did not install?
- Yes. I will need to inspect the installation and review the drawings first, because I am putting my name to the technical content of the file and it has to reflect what is actually on the roof. Where the installation has compliance problems, I will tell you what needs correcting rather than filing a file I know to be wrong.
Next step
A site assessment, before anything is quoted
It starts with twelve months of your bills and a visit. If the numbers do not justify the work, that is what I will tell you — and you will have the analysis either way.
Or call 0312 4945198