Govt to Evaluate PLN's Electricity Discount Program

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government has reportedly planned to evaluate the provision of electricity discounts for 450-VA and 900-VA subsidized subscribers of state-run electricity firm PLN. The tariff cut was initially granted for six months starting March to September 2020.

“We are trying to formulate it so that the discounted tariff program for the public will be on target,” said Kurnia Chairi, the Finance Ministry’s Director of Non-Tax State Revenues (PNBP) of Natural Recourse, in a webinar on Monday, June 15.

Kurnia admitted that the ongoing pandemic had affected the country’s non-tax state revenue and the PLN’s cash flow, causing it to face financial constraints.

However, the government was striving to help the company by delivering state capital injections (PMN), which even had been given for the past few years, including this year.

The PLN’s Director of Commerce and Customer Management, Bob Saril, in the same session, voiced complaints about his company’s declining revenue. He mentioned that the PLN’s revenue had dropped, particularly from its industrial subscribers.

“Of course, PLN as an industry will face heavy pressures if it is not helped by the government,” Saril said.

Previously reported, the government decided to grant electricity bill discounts to the public for three months, viz. April, May, and June 2020. Yet it was later extended to September as an effort to prioritize energy stability for lower-class communities affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA