Quarterly tariff adjustment (QTA)
Definition. Quarterly tariff adjustment is a per-unit charge notified every three months that passes through capacity payments, transmission charges and use-of-system costs which were not recovered in the base tariff.
Also called: QTA · Quarterly adjustment · Q.T.A.
Where you see it: A separate per-unit line, often adjacent to FPA and labelled QTA or 'Qtrly Tariff Adj'.
QTA is not FPA
FPA covers the cost of the fuel burnt. QTA covers the fixed cost of having generation capacity available whether or not it ran, plus transmission and distribution use-of-system charges.
The two appear together and are frequently confused. FPA changes every month; QTA is set for a quarter and then charged across a defined recovery window.
Capacity payments in one paragraph
Pakistan's power purchase agreements oblige the buyer to pay generators for available capacity regardless of dispatch. When demand falls short of contracted capacity, that obligation still has to be recovered, and it is recovered from consumers through this line.
This is why QTA can rise in a year of weak demand — fewer units are sold across the same fixed obligation, so the per-unit recovery goes up.
Reading it on your bill
Check whether the QTA line names a recovery period. Notifications typically specify that a quarter's adjustment is recovered over a set number of months, so the same rate reappears for that run and then stops.
If you are comparing a bill against the same month last year, QTA is one of the two lines most likely to explain a difference that units alone do not.
Frequently asked questions
Are protected consumers exempt from QTA?
Notifications have at times excluded lifeline and protected consumers from quarterly adjustments. Whether the exclusion applies in a given quarter depends on that quarter's NEPRA notification, so check the rate table printed on your own bill.
Why did QTA appear on my bill for several months running?
Because a single quarter's determination is normally recovered in instalments across the following months rather than in one hit. The rate repeats for the notified recovery period.
Related terms
- Fuel price adjustment — The mechanics behind the FPA line: who files it, the two-month lag, why it sometimes goes negative, and why your local office cannot change it.
- Tariff rationalization surcharge — Why consumers in Lahore and Islamabad help fund supply in Quetta and the tribal districts, and how the uniform tariff policy shows up as a line on your bill.
- Financing cost surcharge — Circular debt in one page: what it is, how the financing cost surcharge on your bill relates to it, and why it is not a charge for electricity you used.
Go further
Back to the full 44-term glossary, or open your own bill with the reference number lookup.