Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said that the government will no longer be providing electricity subsidy and haj financial assistance to individuals who fall under the T20 high-income group.

“To curb leakages, the government has initiated targeted electricity tariffs in the first half of this year to maintain the tariff for households, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and agricultural producers. We will not increase the electricity tariff except for those in the T20 group. Only the T20, those with big houses, will not be given electricity subsidy. The National Utility Database (Pangkalan Data Utiliti Kebangsaan, PADU) can coordinate all the figures mentioned,” said Datuk Seri Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister.

In January 2023, the government announced the implementation of a targeted electricity subsidy programme between 1 January to 30 June 2023, where all domestic users (households) are allowed to continue enjoying a rebate of 2 sen/kilowatt hour (kWh) on their power tariff. Non-domestic users, meanwhile, are required to pay a certain amount of surcharge, depending on their electricity consumption. Farmers, animal breeders, as well as micro businesses and SMEs (low-voltage consumers), for instance, pay less surcharge than medium-voltage and high-voltage non-domestic consumers.

Subsequently, the government said earlier this month that the targeted electricity subsidy programme will be further streamlined so that households with high electricity consumption – such as those who use three fans and four air conditioners – will be exempted from the benefit as well.

Aside from electricity subsidies, Datuk Seri Anwar also highlighted that the haj financial assistance for the B40 income group will be increased, but not for T20. “They should bear the full costs of haj because they are well to do,” he added.

Datuk Seri Anwar ultimately stressed that the exclusion of the T20 group from the subsidy scheme is to ensure that subsidies are provided in a more targeted manner, and that help is going to those who truly need it.

(Sources: The Star, Malay Mail)

• TAGS:
• B40
• B40 Households
• Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
• Electricity
• Electricity Bills
• Electricity Discounts
• Electricity Rebates
• Electricity Subsidy
• Electricity Tariff
• National Utility Database (Pangkalan Data Utiliti Kebangsaan)
• T20
• Targeted Subsidies