STELCO incurs MVR 61 mil for discounts, a drop of MVR 600 per bill

STELCO Headquarters in Male' City --

State Electric Company Limited (STELCO) on Sunday, informed it had incurred an expense of MVR 61.7 million to provide discounts on general consumers for the utility bills in Ramadan.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced general consumers will receive discounts on water and electricity consumed in Ramadan.

Utility providers extended discounts on the utility billed for both March and April, during which Islamic holy month of Ramadan coincided this year.

While responding to the Right-to-Information (RTI) inquiries made by 'Sun', STELCO confirmed it had incurred a total expenditure of MVR 61,736,071.86 to provide discounts to general consumers, which include;

Discounts for March: MVR 20.7 million
Discounts for April: MVR 40.9 million

STELCO further said that with the discount, an average reduction of MVR 333.14 was observed per utility bill in March, and MVR 656.79 in April.

Besides STELCO, the other electricity provider Fenaka Corporation and Male' Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) provided discounts on utility billed during Ramadan as well.

For March bills, discounts were extended if the average usage of the first nine months in 2023 was 10 percent in excess of the consumption in March. For the bills below the 10 percent bracket, the discounts were increased up to 10 percent ceiling.

Besides this, for new subscribers, a 10 percent discount was extended on their March bills as well.

For April, if the rate of general consumption was in 10 percent excess of March bills, discounts were given to the excess amount, and for the bills below 10 percent excess, the discount was increased up to the 10-percent bracket, while new subscribers received a 10 percent discount as well.

Discounts were given in May for those who were excluded in April.

President Muizzu announced government's decision to cap utility consumption in Ramadan during a rally at B. Eydhafushi in March 2024.

"Usage will be capped at the same rate as a general month, meaning, consumption rate in Ramadan, will not exceed from that of a standard month," President Muizzu said back then.