An extend-your-load notice means your house is drawing more power than your distribution company (DISCO) approved when it gave you the connection. NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual requires the DISCO to warn you, and when a single-phase connection gets close to 5 kW the warning is meant to push you towards a formal extension. If you ignore it, the extension may happen anyway, with the extra security deposit added to your bills.
This guide covers DISCO consumers. K-Electric has its own service manual, so if you are in Karachi, check KE's rules instead.
Sanctioned load, connected load and MDI are different things
Three terms get mixed up, and the notice only makes sense once they are separated.
- Sanctioned load is the load the DISCO approved for your connection, in kW. It is fixed until you apply to change it.
- Connected load is the total rating of everything wired into your house: fans, lights, fridge, air conditioners, water pump.
- MDI (Maximum Demand Indicator) is the highest demand your meter actually measured during the billing month.
The notice is about the gap between the first and the third. Owning a lot of appliances does not by itself trigger anything. What matters is the demand the meter records when several of them run at once, for example two air conditioners and a pump on a June afternoon.
If you want the background on MDI itself, the MDI and fixed charges explainer goes through it field by field.
Find your sanctioned load and MDI on the bill
Both figures are printed on a standard DISCO bill, though the position varies by company and layout.
- Look for a field labelled Sanctioned Load (sometimes "Load" or "S/Load") near your connection details, tariff and meter number.
- Look for MDI in the meter reading section. On digital meters the reader records it each month.
- Compare the two. If MDI is at or above the sanctioned load, and it happens in more than one month, you are the consumer the notice is aimed at.
The annotated sample bill shows where each of these fields sits.
One high month is not necessarily a pattern. Check several months of bills before deciding your load has outgrown the connection.
What the notice means
NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual (CSM) applies to all consumers of the distribution companies. Chapter 2 covers new connections, shifting, change of name, change of tariff, and extension and reduction of load. Section 2.14 is titled "Extension of Load / Reduction of Load".
Two parts of the revised 2025 manual matter here:
- When the load on a single-phase meter gets close to 5 kW, the DISCO must send the consumer a notice to extend the load.
- The manual also refers to notices printed on electricity bills "in case of unauthorized extension of load".
So the line on your bill is not an advertisement or an optional offer. It is the DISCO telling you that, by its records, your actual use has gone beyond what was sanctioned, and asking you to regularise it.
The word "unauthorized" sounds alarming, but in this context it describes using more load than was approved, not theft. Running an extra air conditioner on a connection sanctioned for less is the typical case.
What happens if you ignore it
This is the part most readers want answered, and the official texts have changed over time, so it helps to see each version.
The 2020 manual: 15 days to apply
The July 2020 revision of the CSM said that if a consumer goes over the sanctioned load, the DISCO sends a notice and the consumer must apply for an extension within 15 days of receiving it. It also said the security deposit is updated "at prevailing rates" when load is extended.
Whether the 15-day window survives word for word in the 2025 text should be confirmed against the current manual or with your subdivision office. Treat it as a guide to how quickly you are expected to act, not a guaranteed grace period.
The 2023 amendment: automatic extension
In August 2023 NEPRA published proposed amendments to the CSM, including a new Clause 2.14.2. In that wording:
- Where static or digital meters are installed on loads up to 8 kW, meter readers record the month's MDI.
- A notice is printed on the bill asking the consumer to regularise the load.
- If the consumer does not respond, the security deposit is recovered through the bills in three installments (under Clause 2.5.3), and the load is extended automatically.
The 2025 manual's reference to bill notices for unauthorised extension of load matches this approach, which suggests the mechanism was carried forward. If you need the exact current wording, for a dispute for instance, read section 2.14 of the 2025 manual itself rather than relying on the 2023 draft.
In practical terms: ignoring the notice does not make it go away. Under this procedure the extra deposit appears on your bill regardless, and your sanctioned load is raised without you choosing the timing.
Single-phase to three-phase: what changes and what does not
The manual ties the extension notice to single-phase meters approaching 5 kW. That is why an extend-your-load notice is often the point at which a household starts asking about a three-phase connection. Ask your subdivision office what meter and connection type you will be given for the load you apply for, because that decision sits with the DISCO.
Two points are often misunderstood.
The number of phases does not set your tariff
Moving to three-phase does not by itself change your tariff. In the CSM, tariff depends on category and load. The manual uses 5 kW and above as the threshold for the Time-of-Use (ToU) tariff. So the change that affects your bill is crossing 5 kW of sanctioned load, not the wiring.
On a ToU connection you pay different rates at peak and off-peak hours, and fixed charges can be linked to MDI. The peak hours and Time-of-Use guide explains how that billing works, and the MDI calculator estimates the fixed charges on a ToU bill from your MDI.
Above 8 kW, a separate connection rule applies
Both the 2020 and 2025 manuals say that an applicant whose load goes above 8 kW is supplied through an independent or separate connection under the ToU tariff for the separate portion. The precise conditions are set out in the full clause, so if your load is in this range, ask the subdivision to show you how it applies to your case.
The August 2023 amendments also added a Clause 2.8.3 allowing an industry to request a separate connection of up to 8 kW, supplied with an MDI meter. That is relevant to small workshops, not ordinary homes.
How to apply for an extension of load
The official text supports the following steps. Where it does not give detail, check with your DISCO.
- Confirm the problem. Compare MDI with sanctioned load over several bills. Note the months when MDI was highest.
- Decide how much load to ask for. Base it on the appliances you actually run together, with some allowance for summer. Asking for well above your need can push you past thresholds such as 5 kW.
- Get the application requirements from your subdivision office. Section 2.14 of the CSM lists the documents needed for extension of load. Ask the office for the current list and form rather than relying on a third-party website.
- Expect a revised security deposit. The manual says the security deposit is updated at current rates when load is extended. The amount per kW is set by the DISCO; ask for it in writing.
- Ask about timelines. Annexure III of the 2025 CSM sets time limits for new connections and for extension or reduction of load in a single table. Ask the subdivision which limit applies to your request so you know when to follow up.
- Consider the online route. News reports point to the Electricity New Connection (ENC) portal for applications. It is not confirmed that the portal accepts load extension requests, so check the portal or ask your subdivision office before relying on it.
If you are also changing the connection more substantially, the new connection and demand notice guide covers how demand notices work.
Net-metering connections have their own procedure
The 2025 manual has a separate procedure for extending or reducing load on net-metering connections. If you have solar under net metering or net billing, tell the subdivision office when you apply, because the standard household route may not be the one that applies to you.
Fees, deadlines and lookalike websites
Many of the top search results for three-phase fees and timelines are unofficial sites, including clones such as lesco-online.com.pk and lescobillchecker.com. They often quote fixed "three-phase fees", deposit rates per kW and day-count deadlines as if they were official.
None of these figures should be taken as current without confirmation from your DISCO. Fees and deposit rates are revised, differ between companies, and a figure that was right once may be out of date. The only reliable numbers are the ones your subdivision office gives you, or the ones printed on a demand notice in your name.
Proposed changes to the manual
On 26 September 2026, NEPRA proposed a major overhaul of the CSM, according to The Nation. The changes mainly concern industry, including load extension of up to 15 MW from the existing network, along with tighter rules on detection bills and temporary disconnections. As of that date they were proposals only. Nothing in them changes the household procedure above unless and until NEPRA adopts them.
What to do next
- Pull out your last few bills and compare MDI with sanctioned load month by month. You can view your current bill by entering your reference number on the bill checker.
- If MDI is regularly above sanctioned load, or your single-phase load is near 5 kW, visit your subdivision office and ask for the extension of load form, the document list and the revised security deposit in writing.
- Ask whether the load you are applying for will put you on the ToU tariff, and what meter you will receive.
- If a deposit appears on your bill in installments without your applying, ask the subdivision to confirm it relates to an automatic load extension and what your new sanctioned load is.
- Ignore fee schedules on unofficial sites; rely only on figures from your DISCO.