Moving house? Electricity connection checklist

1. Take a dated, timestamped photograph of the meter reading on the day you decide to move. Save it — this is your baseline against any final-bill disputes.
2. Request a Meter Reading Certificate from your DISCO subdivision — official reading with a stamp. Costs Rs. 100–200. Needed for security deposit refund.
3. Pay all outstanding bills up to the current cycle. Any arrears block the disconnection application.
4. Decide: Permanent Disconnection (PD) vs Name Transfer to new tenant. PD refunds your security deposit in 60–90 days. Name transfer keeps the meter live but shifts liability — safer for the incoming tenant, faster for you.
5. Collect your Security Deposit Receipt (SDR) issued when the connection was first installed. Without it, the refund process takes 6+ months and requires an affidavit.

1. Before signing lease or paying advance, ask the landlord/seller for 12 months of paid bills. Look for: consistent slab code, no detection bills, no unpaid arrears, meter number matches physical meter on wall.
2. Take the landlord/seller to the DISCO subdivision together. Get a No-Dues Certificate in writing — the DISCO confirms zero arrears against that connection.
3. Photograph the meter reading on possession day with the previous owner present. Both sign a plain-paper handover note stating the reading. This settles any disputes about pre-move usage.
4. File Form CT-1 (Name Transfer) with: previous holder's NOC, your CNIC, sale deed OR rent agreement, 3 months paid bills, and the Rs. 500–1,500 fee. Get a diary number on the receipt.
5. Within 15–45 days DISCO issues the new bill in your name. Verify: name, address, sanctioned load, and slab code are all correct. If any is wrong, file a Data Correction Request immediately.

1. File the PD application within 30 days of moving. Attach: last paid bill, Meter Reading Certificate, Security Deposit Receipt (SDR), CNIC, forwarding address.
2. DISCO team visits within 15 days, disconnects supply, removes meter, and issues a Final Bill covering usage up to the meter-removal date.
3. Pay the Final Bill immediately (it must be cleared before refund is processed).
4. Refund is credited to your bank account within 60–90 days via cross cheque or direct transfer. If delayed beyond 90 days, escalate to the DISCO Chief Engineer.
5. If SDR is lost, submit a Rs. 100 stamp-paper affidavit stating original amount + connection date + address. Refund still comes but takes 4–6 months.

Refund amount = original deposit (usually Rs. 2,000/kW × sanctioned load). A 5 kW connection = Rs. 10,000 refund. Interest is not paid — the amount is refunded at nominal value regardless of how many years elapsed.

• Never take possession without verifying the meter is in the landlord/seller's name (not a 3rd party). Meters in someone else's name = you can't do Name Transfer without their signature.
• Never pay advance rent before verifying No-Dues. Landlords routinely 'forget' unpaid bills that surface a month later.
• Don't accept the promise 'I'll clear it soon' for arrears. Get it cleared BEFORE you sign or don't sign.
• Don't skip Form CT-1 hoping the meter will just 'become yours'. Legally it stays in the old name — any new detection bill hits them, and DISCO can disconnect anytime for unresolved records.
• If moving between DISCO areas (e.g. Lahore → Karachi), the two are entirely separate systems — no data transfer, no security deposit portability. You start fresh at the new DISCO.

Some landlords refuse to close their name on a rented property's meter, keeping it in their name for tax or verification reasons. This is legal — but you should insist on:

• A written monthly bill-payment protocol (you pay landlord, landlord pays DISCO — with receipts every month).
• The right to see the meter and take a monthly reading photo.
• An indemnity clause in the rent agreement: landlord bears any pre-existing arrears or detection bills.

If the landlord defaults on the DISCO bill, the connection is disconnected while it's you sitting in the dark — even though it's in their name. Protect yourself with written clauses.