ISLAMABAD – The federal government has temporarily deferred the General Sales Tax (GST) imposed on consumers generating electricity through solar systems.
President Asif Ali Zardari has accepted the request to review the 16 percent sales tax applied to solar users.
The president has referred the case back to the Federal Tax Ombudsman for another review. All power distribution companies had earlier filed appeals challenging the decision.
The tax had been implemented on electricity produced through solar systems, resulting in significant financial burdens for consumers.
The Federal Tax Ombudsman had ordered tax collection in February this year, but the directive will now undergo reconsideration following the government’s latest instructions.
Earlier, Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) imposed strict new regulations for net metering projects after a sharp rise in cases of consumers installing substandard or non-compliant solar inverters.
Under the updated framework, all net metering applicants must now provide the inverter’s serial number along with the manufacturer’s name, which will be logged into LESCO’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The company made it clear that applications missing this critical information will face automatic cancellation of meter allocation.
LESCO officials stressed that the submitted inverter numbers will be thoroughly verified during meter installation. Any discrepancy or mismatch will prevent the meter from being connected to the grid, ensuring that only certified, compliant solar equipment is allowed to operate.
The new rules also stipulate that inverter numbers provided by companies in their documentation will form part of the official record, creating a permanent trail for verification purposes. This step is aimed at eliminating the use of fake or low-quality inverters and maintaining the integrity of the net metering system.
