Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed authorities to intensify action against electricity theft, calling for the nationwide installation of smart meters and stricter accountability to improve the performance of power distribution companies.

Chairing a meeting on Power Division affairs in Islamabad, the prime minister said smart metering was essential to curb power theft and improve efficiency across the electricity sector.

He also ordered the preparation of village-level solarisation projects to reduce load shedding in rural areas and directed officials to conduct a technical audit of the billing systems of electricity distribution companies (DISCOs).

The prime minister instructed authorities to introduce time-bound key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the performance of DISCOs and announced that the best-performing company would receive a national award.

During the briefing, officials informed the meeting that both technical and commercial losses had continued to decline, with Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) and Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) recording the lowest transmission and distribution losses in the last fiscal year.

The meeting was also told that IESCO, LESCO, GEPCO, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) and Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) achieved 100% recovery of dues during fiscal year 2025-26.

Officials said DISCO Support Units had been established in Hyderabad, Sukkur, Lahore, Multan and Hazara to help curb electricity theft, improve recoveries and resolve technical issues.

The meeting was further informed that the first phase of the Asset Performance Management System at the transformer level would be completed by September 30, improving transformer monitoring and helping reduce power theft and load shedding.

A proposal to install 16.2 million single-phase Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters across the Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, Hazara and Quetta regions is also under consideration.