Electricity and gas in the landlord's name

Many rented homes and shops in Pakistan keep their electricity and gas connections in the owner’s name. That keeps the connection with the property, but an unpaid bill stays with the property too. This guide explains what the regulators’ rules say, and how to protect yourself.

Electricity

The rules are in NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual, revised in November 2025. Clause numbers in older summaries may have changed.

• Arrears stop new connections and changes of name. A new connection needs “no arrears of electricity bills” outstanding against the occupier or owner of the premises, under NEPRA’s eligibility regulations of 2021. When a property is sold, the new owner applies for a change of name with the last paid bill, on condition that no arrears, deferred amounts or instalments are pending.
• A defaulter’s premises can be disconnected. NEPRA cited the manual’s rule that premises are liable to disconnection when the consumer is a defaulter in a March 2026 decision.
• If you support a tenant’s own connection, you guarantee it. When an owner supports a tenant’s application for a connection in the tenant’s name, the owner affirms on a Rs 50 non-judicial stamp paper that they will be responsible for paying the tenant’s default amount, if any.
• You can ask for a defaulting tenant to be cut off. The tenant’s own connection can be disconnected at the owner’s request if the tenant has not paid the electricity bills for three months in a row.

One case shows how this can play out. In a February 2026 decision about LESCO, the company had neither disconnected a defaulting tenant nor taken security. NEPRA decided that the arrears from before the tenant left were to be recovered from the tenant, the bills after the tenant left were the owner’s, and the Rs 200,000 security deposit the owner held for the tenant was to be recovered from the owner towards the tenant’s dues. That was one case on its own facts, not a general rule, but it shows why the deposit and the final bills belong together.

The protected tariff

A “protected” domestic consumer is a residential consumer, not on a time-of-use meter, who has used up to 200 units a month (200 or fewer) in each of the past six months, as NEPRA’s 2021 policy guidelines and tariff determination describe the category; we read them through search excerpts, not the full documents. One month over 200 units means unprotected rates for the next six months (as Business Recorder reports the rule). The government has proposed changing this threshold, to 300 units or by abolishing the category (ARY News, press reports), so check your distribution company’s current notification. Where a meter is shared between portions or sub-metered, one heavy month can raise everyone’s bills. We do not publish tariff prices, because they change.

Gas

• Change of name. SNGPL charges no fee for a change of name. A tenant can move an existing connection into their own name with the landlord’s no-objection certificate. A previous tenant’s security deposit does not transfer. A new owner’s affidavit says the owner will be responsible for all payments for the gas connection at the premises.
• Reconnection needs arrears cleared. Under the SSGC contract filed with OGRA and the SNGPL domestic contract, a disconnected supply is reconnected only after the reconnection charges are paid and the arrears are cleared in full, or as agreed with the company. The company may also stop the supply unless a new owner or occupier signs a fresh contract.

Protect yourself

1. Check the arrears line on every bill. Ask the tenant for a photo of each paid bill, every month, while the connection is in your name.
2. Record the meters at move-in and move-out, with photos of the readings.
3. Settle the final bills before you return the deposit, and write that into the agreement.
4. Think before you sign for a tenant’s own connection: the stamp-paper affirmation makes you answerable for the tenant’s default. If the tenant then misses three months, you can ask the company to disconnect.
5. For gas, a tenant who wants the connection in their own name needs your no-objection certificate, and a disconnected supply comes back only once the arrears are cleared.
6. On shared or sub-metered portions, watch the 200-unit protected threshold.

How Maalik-e-Makaan will help

Version 1.0 will keep each property’s or unit’s electricity, gas, water and internet connections, with whose name the bill is in and who is responsible. You will record each month’s bill, its due date, the units used and who paid it, with a photo, and can charge it to the tenant’s ledger. It will warn you about unpaid bills on connections in your name, and when usage nears the 200-unit protected threshold, and keep the meter readings from move-in and move-out.