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How to Read Your Electricity Bill, Line by Line

A bill is a small document with a strict order. Read it in the order the charges are built, and every line becomes checkable.

The header: who you are to the tariff

Reference number — your 14-digit identity for the official portal and every complaint; it belongs on bill.pitc.com.pk, not on third-party sites. Tariff code — A-1 is residential; a code ending in T means Time-of-Use metering, which changes both your rates and your eligibility for protected status. Sanctioned load — the kW figure your fixed charge is priced on; if it no longer matches your home (an old 1 kW connection running two ACs), the fixed charge is the least of the consequences. Reading dates and days — a period longer than a month pro-rates the slab and status tests; many “impossible” bills are 35-day readings.

The charge block, in build order

Units consumed — present reading minus previous, the input everything else multiplies. Energy charge — units at the landing-band rate (protected: the two-band telescopic price). Divide it by your units: the result should be exactly a rate from the tariff table — if it is a blend, the bill was priced with the wrong method. Fixed charge — the band's per-kW rate times your sanctioned load (ToU: on half the load or your maximum demand). FCA / FPA — the fuel adjustment for the fuel month named on the bill, two months behind; check it against the decided series. QTA — the quarterly adjustment for the window your bill falls in.

FC surcharge, electricity duty, TV fee — the three contested lines. Their presence and rates vary in current practice, and published sources conflict (the disputes are set out on the methodology page). What matters for reading: each should be a visible line with a stated rate — a bill that hides them inside a total is a bill to question. GST — 18% of the charges above, duty included; divide GST by its base and the 18% should be exact. Advance income tax (section 235) — 7.5%, non-filers only, on bills of Rs 25,000 or more; filers should not see it, and its presence on a filer's bill is correctable with your tax status evidence. Late-payment surcharge — 10% after the due date, a penalty, not a tariff.

For solar homes: the green-meter registers

A bidirectional meter keeps separate registers. #8 records off-peak units imported from the grid, #6 peak imports, and #5 the units you exported. Under net billing the bill is built from imports at the full tariff, then the export credit (exports × the rate in your agreement) is subtracted — the net billing calculator reproduces that statement from the same registers. If your bill shows only a single netted units figure, it is being presented in the old style; ask which registers it came from.

Putting it together

Once each line has a name and an expected figure, checking a bill takes minutes: the bill checker does the comparison mechanically. Keep the bill that first looks wrong — reading periods, category changes and adjustment months explain most surprises, and the paper is the evidence if one is real.