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Govt extends electricity discount for small homes, businesses until March
The program grants a 100 percent discount for homes and businesses within the 450 volt-ampere (VA) category and a 50 percent discount for homes within the 900 VA subsidized category.
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Meter checking: Two employees of state-owned electricity company PLN check an electricity meter at a customer’s house
on Jl. Namburan Lor, in Panembahan subdistrict, Kraton district, Yogyakarta, on Dec. 6, 2020. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
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tarting Jan. 7, millions of small Indonesian homes and businesses are slated to continue enjoying electricity discounts as the government extends its power relief program by three months or until March.
The program grants a 100 percent discount for homes and businesses within the 450 volt-ampere (VA) category and a 50 percent discount for homes within the 900 VA subsidized category. These are the two-lowest power categories under regulations.
“Our system is ready to resume distribution as this is essentially a [program] extension,” said Bob Saril, customer management director at state-owned electricity giant PLN, the company executing the program, in a statement on Jan. 1.
The electricity discount for homes was first rolled out in April 2020 while the discount for businesses later in May. Both programs, initially slated for less than six months, were eventually extended until December last year.
Read also: Jokowi announces free electricity, discounts for households hardest hit by COVID-19 impacts
The discount adds to a list of government relief programs that have been extended into 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Southeast Asia’s most populous country, where electricity counts as the fourth-biggest expense among poor homes behind food, rent and transportation fuel.
Indonesia’s open unemployment rate surged to its highest level since 2011 as some 2.67 million lost their jobs as of August last year, according to the latest Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, and economists say it might rise in 2021 amid continued sluggish economic activity.
