The Judicial Activism Panel on Wednesday challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) unannounced loadshedding in the country.
In its miscellaneous petition, the Panel said that while on one hand electricity was expensive, on the other hand, people had to endure prolonged loadshedding.
The Panel further said that loadshedding had badly affected people’s businesses.
It requested the court to order uninterrupted power supply to people.
Prolonged loadshedding in twin cities
Despite the fact that the Power Division had on Tuesday announced loadshedding in the country for 2:15 hours, people in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are experiencing prolonged loadshedding.
Power outages test people’s patience in Muzaffargarh
Similarly, the situation is worse in Muzaffargarh and its surrounding areas where people have said loadshedding has made their lives miserable.
They have complained that mostly it is during daytime that the authorities resort to loadshedding.
And when there is no loadshedding, they have said, there are issues with the voltage.
People have said that every other day there is an increase in the prices of electricity.
The situation is worse at Qunwan Chowk, Garden Road and walled city.
On the other hand, spokesman for the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) has said that unannounced loadshedding is due to the maintenance work being done at Committee Chowk in the walled city.
Similar complaints were received from Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Multan, Karachi, Lahore and other cities
The Power Division on Tuesday announced loadshedding for across the country for 2:15 hours in the evening.
According to the Division’s spokesman, there would be a loadshedding for 2:15 hours, between 5:00 PM and 1:00 AM.
He said that the purpose of load management during peak hours was to ensure the minimum use of expensive fuel and prevent electricity prices from rising by Rs3 per unit.
The spokesman said that consumers were provided relief of Rs46 billion between July 2025 and February 2026. “Despite rise in fuel prices, electricity prices have come down by 71 paisa per unit in the country,” he said, adding this was made possible through reforms in the system, relief packages, and better planning.
“The production capacity was effectively used by utilizing less costly sources of producing electricity,” the spokesman said, adding that the government had reduced losses by making improvements at transmission and administrative levels.
He went on to say that despite tough conditions at global level, the country was able to meet its electricity needs.
The spokesman informed that on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the situation was being constantly monitored. “The prime minister has tasked us with ensuring that electricity prices don’t go through the roof.”
He said that despite limiting the use of furnace oil for power production, consumers would have to remain prepared for Rs1.5 per unit hike in the power tariff.
He made it clear that had timely actions not been taken, electricity prices could have risen by Rs5 per unit to Rs6 per unit.
