Arab News reported in late August 2026 that Pakistani authorities had ordered distribution companies and PITC to clear eligible rooftop solar connections initiated before the February net-billing cutoff, specifically where consumers had paid demand notices, received licences, undergone meter changes, and executed connection orders prior to 9 February 2026. The grey zone between legacy net metering and new net billing had become an administrative and political problem. Clearing it is not nostalgia. It is anti-corruption and fairness policy.
Agents thrive when state portals are opaque. Direct digital communication with applicants, later emphasised in September clearances, is how you starve those agents. Transition Economics Institute supports publishable eligibility checklists and status trackers for every pending case. Discretion without checklists is a market for favours.
DISCOs that slow-walk eligible legacy connections undermine NEPRA’s grandfathering logic and invite court petitions that could unsettle the entire Prosumer Regulations package. Regulators should set binding processing timelines with penalties for delay.
The Power Division’s framing, protecting consumer rights while ensuring only genuine pending cases proceed, is the correct balance. Fake claims will appear. Verification is legitimate. Verification that endlessly moves goalposts is not.
August’s directive is a test of digital government as much as energy policy. If PITC cannot adjust billing systems to recognise eligible legacy connections, software becomes policy veto. That veto should be unacceptable.
Institutional accountability remains the missing hinge. NEPRA, the Power Division, CPPA-G, the system operator, and the DISCOs each hold a piece of the puzzle, yet none owns the full cash-conversion cycle. Until reporting, incentives, and penalties are aligned to the same monthly cash target, reform statements will continue to outrun results. Transition Economics Institute will keep measuring progress by whether billed energy turns into settled rupees, whether fixed generation obligations shrink in line with the demand profile, and whether consumers see durable relief rather than a temporary rebate financed by another round of arrears.