Fresh CCI approval not required for DISCO privatisation, says Privatisation Division

According to Profit by Pakistan Today, the Privatisation Division has told a Senate subcommittee that the Council of Common Interests need not give a new ruling before power distribution companies are sold off. In its written reply to the Senate Functional Committee on Devolution, the division pointed to a 2011 CCI decision that covered nine distribution firms and three generation firms. It also cited the National Electricity Policy, which the CCI endorsed on June 21, 2021, as a framework that opens the door to examining privatisation as a way of raising the performance of state-run bodies where suitable.

The division maintains that both decisions remain operative and serve as grounds to proceed with DISCO sales without another vote. Earlier, on September 25, 2026, the Law Division confirmed the 2011 decision still stands and that distribution firms need no new endorsement. The statement comes as the federal government's power to sell off power utilities and the CCI's role in that process face questions.