Good News For 450 VA And 900 VA Customers: Sri Mulyani Extends Electricity Discounts Until September 2021

Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, ensured that the discount on electricity bills was extended until September 2021. This discount applies to PT PLN (Persero) customers of the 450 Volt Ampere (VA) and 900 VA groups. The extension of this discount is carried out as an effort to anticipate the impact of the implementation of the Emergency Community Activity Restriction (PPKM).

Furthermore, Sri Mulyani said that the discount on electricity bills that will be given is in the form of a 50 percent discount for household, business, and industrial customers 450 VA, and a 25 percent discount for 900 VA household customers.

"We with this PPKM will extend the discount for 450 VA 50 percent and 900 VA with a 25 percent discount until the third quarter, the duration is extended to nine months until September 2021", she said in a virtual press conference, Friday, July 2.

Sri Mulyani said the estimated additional budget needs of IDR 1.91 trillion from the allocation for the first semester of 2021 of IDR 5.67 trillion, so that the total estimated budget needs until September 2021 reached IDR 7.58 trillion.

Not only discounting electricity bills, but the government has also extended the minimum account fee, load/subscription fees until September 2021. This is intended for 1.14 million business, industrial and social customers with a 50 percent discount.

"The discount has been reduced from 100 percent to 50 percent. The estimated funding requirement is IDR 420 billion, which for the first semester has covered IDR 1.275 trillion. Now the total budget in subscription costs is IDR 1.69 trillion", she said.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment as well as the Coordinator of the Java-Bali Emergency PPKM, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said he had discussed with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Arifin Tasrif, to discuss electricity assistance.

"Including electricity, I called the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, it will be arranged, so there is no problem", he said, in a virtual press conference, Thursday, July 1.

Luhut said President Joko Widodo had asked him to ensure that the handling of COVID-19 was not only to deal with the health sector but also to protect the underprivileged people. For this reason, the government will accelerate the distribution of social assistance.

"So the President emphasized that the lower middle class really must be protected. Through this step, the Emergency PPKM will mitigate and our economic recovery will also be faster than before", he said.