Protected consumer
Definition. A protected consumer is a residential electricity consumer in Pakistan whose monthly consumption has stayed at or below 200 units in every one of the last six billing cycles, which qualifies the account for a lower slab schedule than unprotected consumers pay.
Also called: Protected category · Unprotected consumer · A-1 protected
Where you see it: As a marker beside the tariff code in the account header — the suffix on A-1 differs between the two statuses.
Checking your own status in ten seconds
Look at the tariff code, then look at the twelve-month consumption strip. If every one of the last six months shows 200 units or fewer, you should be protected; if any single month exceeded it, you should not be.
Where the two disagree, the strip is the evidence and the code is the claim. That mismatch is exactly what a status review complaint is for.
One month breaks it
The test is not an average. A single month at 210 units removes protected status even if the other five averaged 90.
This is why a household that runs an air conditioner for one heat wave can find its winter bills priced as though it were a heavy user — the status, not the consumption, is what changed.
Getting it back
Six consecutive months at or below 200 units restores it, and the reclassification is applied by the billing system rather than on application.
Formal registration under the cross-subsidy scheme is a separate matter from the automatic classification, and consumers who expect the subsidised rate should confirm both.
Frequently asked questions
Is protected status the same as lifeline?
No. Lifeline is a narrower and cheaper category for very low consumption — the threshold is far below 200 units and it carries its own exemptions. Every lifeline consumer is protected; most protected consumers are not lifeline.
Do three-phase domestic connections get protected status?
The protected schedule is defined for the single-phase residential category. A three-phase domestic connection is billed on a different basis and does not pick up the protected slabs.
Related terms
- Lifeline consumer — The lowest rung of Pakistan's residential tariff: qualifying consumption, the exemptions that come with it, and what pushes a household off it.
- Slab rate — How to read the slab table printed on the back of your bill, which slab your units land in, and the difference between marginal and re-priced slab billing.
- Tariff code — Decoding A-1, A-1a, A-2, B-1, C-1 and D-1 on a Pakistani electricity bill, and what happens when your connection sits in the wrong category.
Go further
Back to the full 44-term glossary, or open your own bill with the reference number lookup.