The Election Commission (EC) has approved the use of 10 billion baht of the government’s central budget to reduce people’s energy cost burden. The move comes after an earlier pushback that necessitated the Cabinet to re-submit the details for the use of the budget.
Election Commissioner Titichet Nutchanart said the Cabinet’s request to use 10.464 billion baht of the fiscal year 2023 central budget has been approved at a meeting of the EC.
The budget, which will be used to reduce the electricity cost for the public, will be expended on two measures. The first is an urgent measure to reduce the electricity price before the value-added tax calculation. This will benefit households that use no more than 500 units of electricity per month in the May 2023 billing cycle. 150 baht of reduction will apply for each of the eligible households. The move will alleviate people’s power bills as May is within the peak period for electricity use in Thailand.
The second measure involves providing reductions to the electricity charge for households that use no more than 300 units of electricity per month. Households that use 1-150 units of power per month will receive an 89.80 satang per unit discount. Those who use 151-300 units of electricity per month will receive a 64.80 satang per unit discount on the bill. This measure will be implemented over 4 months in the May to August billing cycles. (NNT)
