Fact-check: Claim of free electricity in Punjab for Ramadan debunked as false
Officials from both the Punjab government and DISCOs confirm that no such decision has been made, nor is it under consideration
Updated Wednesday Mar 05 2025
Multiple online users are sharing the claim that the Punjab government has announced free electricity for the holy month of Ramadan, implying that consumers in the province will not be receiving an electricity bill for March.
The claim is false. No such decision has been made by the Punjab cabinet.
Claim
On February 21, a Facebook user posted, “Breaking news: In Punjab, electricity bill will be free for the month of Ramadan", which has since been shared over 125 times and liked over 1,400 times at the time of writing.
Identical claims took off elsewhere on Facebook here, here and here.
Fact
Senior officials in the province of Punjab have confirmed that no such decision or announcement has been made.
Azma Zahid Bokhari, Punjab's minister for information, stated, "It [the claims] are fake".
Dr Naeem Rauf, the secretary of energy in Punjab, further clarified, “If any such announcement was to be made, it would be issued by the federal government, not the provincial government. There is nothing of that sort in my knowledge".
Additionally, public relations officer at the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Muhammad Saeed Raza, and the deputy director of media at Gujranwala Electric Power Company Limited (GEPCO), Rana Jehangir, also called the online claims “fake” and confirmed that no such notification had been issued.
Verdict: The claim that electricity bills in Punjab will be waived for the month of Ramadan is not true. Officials from both the Punjab government and DISCOs have confirmed that no such decision has been made, nor is it under consideration.
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