MEPCO Meter Change
Last checked 26 September 2026
MEPCO must replace a defective or burnt meter immediately, or within two billing cycles if it has no meter in stock. MEPCO bears the cost unless the consumer caused the damage, or the meter at the premises was stolen or damaged in an accident. This guide covers the request, who pays, estimated bills and accuracy checks, following NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual (CSM) as revised on 26 November 2025.
When must a MEPCO meter be replaced?
A MEPCO meter must be replaced when it is defective, burnt, damaged, missing or has a washed-out display ("display wash" in the CSM), or when a test proves it fast or slow. Chapter 4 of the CSM sets each case, together with who pays and how the bills in between are worked out.
Report a fault as soon as you see it and keep proof of the date. The CSM lists a stopped, burnt or display-washed meter, and broken or tampered seals, among the signs that lead MEPCO to investigate a connection for illegal use of electricity. If the investigation confirms it, the outcome can be a MEPCO detection bill for the lost units.
How to apply for a meter change
To get a faulty meter changed, collect its details, report the fault through one official route and keep the number you are given:
- Collect the details. Note the 14-digit reference number and the meter number from your bill, and photograph the meter and its display.
- Use the MEPCO SMART app. Its Meter Change Request service is for replacing a damaged meter with a new one, and its Track Complaints service follows a complaint by tracking ID. The guide to MEPCO SMART app services and requests covers each one.
- Or register a complaint with PITC. Call 118, send an SMS to 8118 or use the CCMS complaint form. The guide to registering a MEPCO online complaint on CCMS walks through each field.
- Or apply at your office. The CSM treats meter replacement as a billing complaint, registered at the sub-divisional office, a consumer service centre or the one-window desk, where you are given a date for the fix.
- Report theft or accident damage in writing. If a meter installed at your premises is stolen or damaged in an accident, the CSM requires you to inform the sub-divisional office in writing immediately. MEPCO may lodge an FIR, and it must install another meter straight away.
PITC acknowledges each CCMS complaint automatically within 24 hours and aims to resolve it within 14 days.
How long can the replacement take?
MEPCO must replace a defective meter immediately, or within two billing cycles when no meter is available. The CSM repeats the two-billing-cycle limit in its timetable for billing complaints. MEPCO's own FAQ asks consumers to contact their sub-division if a defective meter has not been replaced within 2 to 3 months.
When MEPCO has no meter in stock, the CSM lets it ask the consumer to buy one to MEPCO's approved specification from its approved vendors, so the replacement is not delayed.
Who pays for the new meter?
MEPCO pays when a meter fails without any fault of the consumer; the consumer pays when overloading, faulty internal wiring or another consumer fault caused the damage. For a stolen or accident-damaged meter, the location decides: a meter at the premises is in the consumer's safe custody and the consumer pays, while one on a MEPCO pole or structure is in MEPCO's custody and MEPCO pays.
The table sets out each case in the CSM. The first column is the reason for the replacement and the second is who bears the cost of the new meter.
| Reason for replacement | Who pays |
|---|---|
| Defective, damaged, burnt, display wash, internal fault or weathering, not caused by the consumer | MEPCO |
| Slow because of age or another reason not linked to illegal use or theft of electricity | MEPCO |
| Fast, for any reason | MEPCO |
| Defective, damaged, burnt or display wash because of the consumer's fault, such as overloading or an internal wiring defect | Consumer |
| Missing, or damaged in an accident, when installed at the premises | Consumer |
| Missing, or damaged in an accident, when installed on a pole or structure | MEPCO |
| Tampered meter, replaced after a detection bill is paid | Consumer |
Source: NEPRA Consumer Service Manual (as on 26 November 2025), section 4.4; last row from section 9.2.3.
Where the consumer must pay, the CSM lets MEPCO recover the meter's cost through the electricity bill so the replacement is not held up, or by demand notice when a meter at the premises is stolen or damaged.
Is there a fee to request a meter change?
The CSM sets no fee for requesting a replacement and prints no meter price; for the meter itself, it decides only who bears the cost. The fixed amounts it does set are for related services: a meter challenge fee for an accuracy test and a shifting charge for moving the meter, both explained below.
How your bill is estimated while the meter is faulty
While a meter is defective, MEPCO may bill for up to two months on an average: 100% of the units recorded in the same months of the previous year, or the average of the last eleven months, whichever is higher. It cannot charge earlier months again if the meter was correct up to the last billing cycle.
For illustration, a home that used 180 units in the same month last year and averaged 210 units over the last eleven months would be billed 210 units. MEPCO's FAQ describes the estimate more simply, as the same month's use last year, and says such bills are marked "est def". The FAQ gives MEPCO's policy as fitting a check meter as soon as a fault is found, so that the correct consumption and bill can be worked out.
Meters with a washed-out display
For a display-wash meter, MEPCO may bill on the same two-month average and then retrieves the data stored in the old meter. After giving you notice, it charges the actual units shown by the data and adjusts the average bills already issued. Two time limits protect the consumer:
- If the data is not retrieved within three months of the replacement, your account cannot be debited.
- If the meter goes to its manufacturer for data retrieval, the limit is six months, after which no adjustment can be made.
Solar net meters
If a net meter fails, exported units are credited on the same average basis for up to two months, the meter must be replaced within two billing cycles, and the account is later corrected from the data downloaded from the meter.
What if you think the meter is fast?
To challenge a meter's accuracy, ask MEPCO to check it: MEPCO issues a demand notice for a meter challenge fee and tests the meter within seven working days of payment. A test can go either way, so first compare the display with your bill using how to read your MEPCO meter and its reading date.
- Ask for a check. Tell MEPCO you are not satisfied with the meter's accuracy.
- Pay the challenge fee. It is Rs 500 for a single-phase connection or Rs 1,000 for three-phase, on the demand notice MEPCO issues.
- Attend the test. MEPCO checks the meter in your presence or your representative's. It fits a calibrated check meter in series with yours, or tests it with a rotary sub-standard, a digital power analyser or meter testing equipment, with an expert from its metering and testing department.
The result decides what happens next:
- Fast beyond the permissible limits: the meter is changed at MEPCO's cost, and you get credit for the excess units for up to two previous billing cycles.
- Slow or defective: the meter is changed at MEPCO's cost, and the slowness is charged to you for two previous billing cycles.
Asking the Electric Inspector instead
You can also ask the Electric Inspector or the Provincial Office of Inspection (POI) to test the meter. Give MEPCO written notice that you have done so. MEPCO must then leave the meter in place until the inspector has tested it in the presence of you and MEPCO, and the inspector has one month from your request to carry out the check.
If a percentage of slowness or fastness is found, the debit or credit covers at most two months, and billing at that percentage can continue until the meter is replaced. In Punjab, the Energy Department's Electricity Billing Complaint Portal takes complaints about meter defects to the regional Electric Inspector.
When MEPCO doubts the meter
MEPCO can also start a check itself, after informing you, with a check meter in series for a fixed period or an on-site test. A slow meter's multiplying factor (the number that recorded units are multiplied by for billing) is raised until the replacement, and lost energy can be charged for no more than two previous billing cycles. A fast meter's factor is lowered, and excess units are credited for up to two previous billing cycles.
Does a new meter run faster than the old one?
MEPCO's FAQ says no: new meters record correctly, while old meters had become slow with age and internal or external problems. If you still doubt a new meter, the same accuracy check applies to it.
Check the first bill after the change
The first bill after a meter change should show the new meter number and, under the CSM, a photo of the old meter's final reading alongside the present reading. MEPCO records the swap as a meter change order (MCO).
Open that bill with the MEPCO bill checker and look for three things:
- the old meter's final reading, matching the photo you took;
- the new meter number;
- total units that agree with the readings shown.
If a figure is wrong, report it straight away. The CSM gives MEPCO 7 days from your complaint to redress bill errors caused by wrong meter readings; the guide to getting a wrong MEPCO bill corrected covers the full route and escalation.
Moving the meter or changing the owner
To move a meter to another spot on the same premises, apply to MEPCO in person or online and give your reasons. MEPCO surveys the new spot within seven days and, if satisfied, moves the meter once you pay the shifting charges on its demand notice: Rs 500 for a single-phase connection or Rs 1,000 for three-phase, plus any extra material.
A new owner is a separate request. When a property is sold, the CSM makes the new owner apply for a change of name on the connection, with the security deposit updated at current rates; the documents and steps are in the guide to changing the name on a MEPCO connection. Other requests, from load changes to rooftop solar, are collected under MEPCO consumer services.
Sources: NEPRA Consumer Service Manual as on 26 November 2025 (circulated by MEPCO on 28 November 2025), sections 2.13, 4.1 to 4.4, 6.4, 9.2 and 10.3; MEPCO FAQ page, MEPCO SMART app page and news release 130/2025 of 13 May 2025 (mepco.com.pk); PITC Customer Complaint Management System (ccms.pitc.com.pk); Punjab Energy Department Electricity Billing Complaint Portal. Checked 26 September 2026.