Mechanism for Electricity Bill Relief for 450 VA and Subsidized 900 VA Customers

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 141.Pers/04/SJI/2020

Date: 1 April 2020

Mechanism for Electricity Bill Relief for 450 VA and Subsidized 900 VA Customers

To follow up President Joko Widodo's instruction about free electricity for 450 Volt Ampere (VA) customers and 50% bill relief for subsidized 900 VA ones, the government through Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) issues the mechanism for giving tariff stimulus.

Director General of Electricity of Ministry of EMR, Rida Mulyana, explains that households subscribed to regular or post-paid 450 VA plan will be freed from usage fees and load charges. "Regular (post-paid) customers subscribed to 450 VA plan or those who use electricity first and pay later, no matter how much they use, it's free; there's no need to pay anything," said Rida in an online press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday (1/4).

To anticipate regular customers who exceed their usage limit, Ministry of EMR and Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) have the database of each customer's usage. "The fuse will snap if a customer exceeds the usage limit," continued Rida.

For 450 VA prepaid customers, the government will give free monthly tokens equal to the maximum usage in the last three months. "Each customer has his/her own consumption volume; we have customer profiles, the maximum usage in the last three months; this is what we're going to give for the next three months," said Rida.

The same mechanism for payment relief will be applied to subsidized 900 VA households. "Regular customers will be given 50% discount on usage fees and load charges," said Rida.

Meanwhile, 900 VA prepaid customers will be given free electricity tokens equal to 50% off the highest usage in the last three months. "Similar to 450 VA customers; the difference is that it's not fully free but you still have to pay 50%," Rida explained.

Rida confirms that for the next three months, from April to July, both types of 450 VA customers and some of 900 VA customers will be subject to the set mechanism.

"The mechanism will be adjusted to adapt to national development (whether or not Covid-19 has eased). If the relief is still needed, it's possible to extend the mechanism," Rida said.

Rida asserts that the decision to give electricity relief shows that the state is present to support the economy of the needy and the disadvantaged. "This proves the government is always present in any condition. If relief is needed, please evaluate according to the condition," said Rida.

The government has prepared a Rp3.5-trillion budget to protect the lower layers of the society in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. "The target of Government Regulation in lieu of Law (Perppu) Number 1/2020 as communicated by the President yesterday is only for two customer groups who have received subsidies," Rida concluded.

The amount comes from the average electricity volume consumed by 24 million customers of 450 VA plan which is 85.25 KWh per month or about Rp40,000 of electricity bill per month, while 7 million customers of 900 VA plan on average consume 104.27 KWh or about Rp30,000 after a 50% discount. (IY)

Head of Bureau of Communication, Public Information Services, and Cooperation

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