Firms start issuing electricity bills with new tariff

Muscat:  The electricity distribution and supply companies have started issuing bills with the new tariff structure for the month of January 2021. The new bills include the gradually applied and endorsed tariffs of this month. Meanwhile, the approved tariff means the one issued in December as per the approved tariffs schedule for electricity supply, which starts from 15baisa per kilowatt (KW).  It will vary to consumption. While the applied tariff means the tariff applied throughout the month on a gradual basis, which is 11 baisa per 2,000 kW for January bills and varies according to consumption. The medium-term fiscal balance for 2021-2024, which was launched with the aim of improving government spending and strengthening the social protection system, focused on restructuring the electricity and water subsidies from the beginning of 2021. The Nama Group and its subsidiaries have worked on implementing a number of awareness campaigns in the context of rationalizing electricity consumption, with a focus on electronic and green bills, electronic payment channels, electricity meter reading updates, as well as toll-free numbers of the distribution and supply companies. New tariffs for electricity and water services will be applied from the beginning of 2021 year to five years, while the subsidy for citizens (not exceeding two accounts) will continue. The new tariff structure includes the following categories: 1- Big consumers category that includes all subscribers of all the categories except the residential category who consume 100 megawatts per hour in a year or more, and the cost-reflective tariff (CRT) is applied to all subscribers in this category. Second is the Non-residential consumption category. It includes all the subscribers’ categories (industrial, commercial, government, and tourism) to be merged from a single tariff. Also, the tariff for agricultural and fishery activities has been modified and will continue to be applied as a special tariff for these two sectors. The third is the Residential consumption category. In this category, the tariff was divided into the citizen’s account tariff, the resident’s account tariff, and additional accounts. The citizen’s account tariff will be applied to accounts registered with the names of citizens, not exceeding two accounts per citizen, and the resident’s account tariff and additional accounts will be applied to registered accounts with the names of residents.