Electricity consumers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi can now pay their bills by pointing a phone camera at a printed square. The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has introduced an IESCO QR code payment facility that lets customers settle their electricity bills — and all types of demand notices — simply by scanning the code printed on the bill, without visiting a bank, a payment counter or a franchise.
The launch, reported on 7 November 2026, makes IESCO the latest of Pakistan’s power distribution companies to move bill payment onto a phone screen — just as the federal government pushes the whole country towards cashless payments.
How the IESCO QR code payment works
The idea is deliberately simple. Every IESCO bill now carries a QR code. The customer opens a mobile banking app or a digital wallet, chooses the scan option, points the camera at the code, checks the amount shown on screen and confirms the payment. There is no reference number to type in and no chance of paying the wrong account because of a mistyped digit.
IESCO chief executive Khalid Mahmood said the facility would make payments faster, easier and more convenient for consumers — a welcome change in a region where paying a bill has long meant a trip to a bank branch or a payment franchise.
The system works with the payment apps consumers already use. QR bill payment is supported by major bank apps and by mobile wallets such as JazzCash and Easypaisa, so most customers will not need to install anything new. Once the code is scanned, the app shows the bill details for confirmation before any money moves.
The IESCO QR code payment facility covers more than the monthly electricity bill. It applies to bills and to all types of demand notices, so arrears and other charges raised by the company can be settled the same way. For consumers who have missed a payment or received a notice, that means the matter can be cleared the same day, from home.
Who can use it — and when
The IESCO QR code payment service is available to consumers across the company’s entire service area: Islamabad and the districts of Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal and Jhelum. That covers the capital’s homes, offices and markets as well as the surrounding districts of northern Punjab, one of the most urbanised electricity regions in the country.
Crucially, the facility is available around the clock — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A bill can be paid late at night or early in the morning, on a weekend or on a public holiday, when banks and payment counters are closed. For salaried workers who cannot leave the office during the day, that flexibility is the real change.
The timing also helps at the end of the billing cycle. Bills carry a due date, and late payment can mean a surcharge. Being able to pay at any hour, right up to the deadline, removes one of the most common reasons bills are paid late.
IESCO follows LESCO, GEPCO and MEPCO
IESCO is not the first power company to put QR codes on its bills. Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) and Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) began printing a new, simpler bill format with a QR code in June 2026, and IESCO was named at the time as the next company to follow. Its launch now completes that first wave of the rollout among the larger distribution companies.
The QR code on the bill has already become familiar to consumers for another reason. Since May 2026, distribution companies have printed the exact subsidy amount on the monthly bills of eligible consumers — usually protected consumers using 200 units or less a month — with a QR code for registering to keep that relief. The new IESCO QR code payment option builds on the same habit: customers are already used to looking for a code on the bill and scanning it with a phone.
That familiarity also brings a warning. In May 2026 the Power Division cautioned that criminals were circulating fake QR codes and links under the name of electricity subsidies to steal personal information, asking victims to fill in forms and share six-digit verification codes. Consumers should only ever scan the code printed on their own bill, and never one forwarded on WhatsApp, Facebook or SMS. A genuine bill payment never asks for a verification code sent to your phone.
Part of Pakistan’s wider cashless push
The IESCO launch sits inside a much bigger national shift. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting in Islamabad on Friday 6 November to review progress towards a cashless economy, built around payments through the State Bank’s Raast QR code system. The prime minister asked officials to prepare a clear roadmap with time-bound targets, and ordered a media campaign to encourage electricity and gas consumers to pay through the QR codes printed on utility bills.
The meeting was told that payments in most government institutions would be fully digitised by December 2026. One concrete deadline is already set: cheque-based payments through Asaan Assignment Accounts will stop from 15 November, with those payments moving to the Raast digital system across the country from 16 November.
Utility bills are the obvious place to start: almost every household pays one every month, so moving that payment onto a phone teaches millions of people to trust digital payments. The IESCO QR code payment system is a small step for one company, but it is exactly the kind of everyday change the cashless-economy plan depends on.
For consumers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, the advice is straightforward: check the QR code on your next bill, scan it with your bank app or wallet, and pay from home. For step-by-step guidance on the other ways to settle a bill, see our guides on how to pay your electricity bill online in Pakistan and how to check your electricity bill online. Further details of the launch are reported here.
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