Claim: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) announced loadshedding will take place every evening for 2 hours and 30 minutes from 5pm to 1am, Aaj News reported.
Fact: This claim is misleading. The Aaj News bulletin in the post dates back to April 2026. Moreover, NEPRA has not announced any such loadshedding schedule recently, as of 20 July 2026.
On 1 July 2026, X user Syeda Sherazi posted a news bulletin, seemingly by Aaj News, announcing The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (NEPRA) new loadshedding schedule. The caption accompanying the post in Urdu stated:
بریکنگ مردہ پاکستانی قوم کو مبارک ہو، بجلی مہنگی بھی ہے اور دیں گے بھی اپنی مرضی سے، لوڈ شیڈنگ بڑھتی جارہی ہے مگر نااہل عوام خاموش سے سہہ رہی ہے ظالمو متحد ہو جاؤ
[Translation: “Breaking Congratulations to the dead Pakistani nation, electricity is expensive and they’ll give it however they please, load shedding keeps increasing but the incompetent people are silently enduring it O tyrants, unite.” ]
Screenshot from X post
The image declares load shedding that will take place for 2 hours and 30 minutes, between the hours of 5pm and 1am.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first reverse-searched this image to find if Aaj News had reported this news recently. The results revealed that the news bulletin seen in the X post is authentic, and had been officially announced by Aaj News, and was uploaded on the news channel’s official YouTube and Instagram pages, dated 14th April 2026.
Below we see the visuals taken from Aaj News’ Instagram post, and the visuals present are identical to the ones from the X post. This shows both these visuals were taken from Aaj News, and reposted in July but in a different format causing it to be misleading.
Identical visuals seen from Aaj News socials (left ) as seen from X post (right)
A deeper search led to news articles reporting on the 2 hour and 30 minute peak hour loadshedding announcement from 14 and 15 April 2026. The articles state the Government of Pakistan’s Power Division announced this news due to rising electricity demand during peak hours. The Power Division had stated that they faced the biggest challenge during peak hours of 5pm and 1am, but due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz at that time, energy needed to be conserved, hence load shedding was implemented by the government. K-Electric and HESCO were exempted from this load shedding plan.
Soch Fact Check looked into the official website and X accounts of the Ministry of Energy- Power Division, Government of Pakistan’s for any updates as of 20 July 2026. The only update on such a ruling was found on their X account in Urdu on 14 April 2026 as seen below:
Official update found on Ministry’s X account
The Ministry of Energy posted an English version of this announcement on the same date on their official website stating:
“THE POWER DIVISION SPOKESPERSON HAS ISSUED AN IMPORTANT STATEMENT REGARDING THE PEAK HOURS RELIEF STRATEGY, HIGHLIGHTING KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN ELECTRICITY PRICING AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT.
The Power Division spokesperson has issued an important statement regarding the Peak Hours Relief Strategy, highlighting key developments in electricity pricing and demand management.
According to the statement, consistent efforts by the Power Division have led to a reduction in electricity prices for consumers across the country. From July to February, the average tariff has decreased by 71 paisa per unit despite rising fuel costs. This has resulted in a total relief of Rs 46 billion.
The reduction has been achieved through structural reforms, targeted relief measures, strict implementation of the merit order, improved planning and more efficient system operations. Priority has been given to low-cost generation sources, while better use of generation capacity and improvements in transmission and administration have helped reduce losses. These combined efforts have improved overall system performance and provided sustainable relief to consumers.
The spokesperson said that despite challenging global conditions, the country’s power generation remains stable. The system is capable of meeting electricity demand as required.
However, the main challenge at present is during peak hours from 5:00 pm to 1:00 am. During this time, demand increases significantly, mainly due to reduced hydel generation. Relying on expensive fuels to meet this demand could lead to a substantial increase in electricity prices.
Keeping this in view, the government has decided to suspend electricity supply for about 2.25 hours daily between 5:00 pm and 1:00 am. This step is aimed at reducing the use of costly fuels and preventing a sharp rise in tariffs.
The situation is being closely monitored under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister. The government has directed that electricity prices must not increase sharply. Even if the use of furnace oil leads to some increase, all possible steps are being taken to keep it to a minimum.
In line with these directions, 80 MMCFD of local gas has been provided to power plants. This has helped avoid an increase of about 80 paisa per unit and has also reduced the need for additional load management.
He said that the limited load management of 2.25 hours during peak times is intended to prevent an increase of around Rs 3 per unit. Even with restricted use of furnace oil, there may still be an increase of about Rs 1.5 per unit. Without these measures, the increase could have reached Rs 5 to Rs 6 per unit.
Distribution companies have been directed to share feeder-wise outage schedules with consumers at all levels. This will ensure that consumers are aware of outage timings. No unscheduled outages will be allowed. In case of local faults, the concerned offices will inform consumers accordingly.
The government is making every effort to minimize the impact of international conditions on the public. All possible measures are being taken to provide relief to consumers.
The spokesperson clarified that this step is not load shedding. It is part of the government’s “Peak Relief Strategy” aimed at controlling possible increases in electricity prices during peak hours.
The government remains committed to providing maximum relief to the public despite global challenges. It will continue to take all necessary steps to keep electricity prices under control. Coordinated efforts by federal and provincial governments, including timely closure of commercial markets, can further reduce demand and help limit any potential increase in electricity costs.”
For further verification NEPRA’s website does not show any new announcement as of 20 July 2026, on Pakistan’s Peak Hours Relief Strategy.
Based on the official record found on the Ministry of Energy’s website and authentic news reports, Soch Fact Check concludes the claim is misleading and this news dates back to April 2026.
Virality
The claim received about 1030 to 846 views on X.
The Facebook post saw 23 likes and 7 reshares.
On Instagram, the claim garnered 1.2K likes and 153 comments.
Conclusion: The news bulletin from Aaj News dates back to April 2026
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