Families to get $125m in utility rebates
780,000 households will benefit from help given to offset GST hike
Jessica Lim, Straits Times 30 Dec 08;
MORE than 780,000 HDB households will receive utility rebates in the next seven months, with those in smaller flats getting more.
The 2009 rebates will cost the Government $125 million. They were introduced during last year's Budget as part of the $4 billion GST offset package.
The aim of the rebates is to help Singaporeans, especially those from low-income households, cope with the GST hike implemented in July last year.
The Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates range from $70 to $210 and are pegged to flat type. They will be parcelled out in two instalments - the first next month, and the second in July.
People living in one- or two-room flats, for example, will receive rebates of $210, while those living in five-room flats will receive $110.
Now in its third year, the rebates - which recipients can roll over to the following months if their bills are less than the rebate amount - will run until at least 2011. Over the five years from 2007 to 2011, $550 million will be handed out in total.
The rebate will help Madam Fauziah Ab Samad, a mother of five school-going children who lives in a four-room flat in Jurong West.
'This month, my children had to buy school books and new uniforms. This will really help to offset all these extra costs,' said the housewife, who lives on $1,300 a month from her husband who is a bus driver.
The family has $500 in unpaid power bills.
Mr William Sng, 61, who lives in a three-room flat in Hougang, is also grateful.
'If the Government wants to help me to pay my bills, I am happy,' said the father of two in Mandarin.
'It may not be that much, but the amount saved will cover the amount I spend for four trips to the supermarket.'
The rebate amount will be reflected in utility bills for January and July 2009 for all eligible households.
For more information on U-Save rebates, the public can call SP Services on 1800-2222-333.
Utilities rebates of $70-210 for HDB homes in 2009
Business Times 30 Dec 08;
MORE than 780,000 eligible HDB households will receive $125 million worth of Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates in 2009, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
Households will receive between $70 and $210 worth of U-Save rebates, depending on flat type. Part of the rebates will be given out in January, while the rest will be given in July.
Under the schedule of U-Save rebates released yesterday, one-room and two-room HDB flats will get $210 worth of rebates in 2009.
Three-room flats will get $190; four-room flats, $180; and five-room flats, $110. Executive flats will get rebates of $70.
The U-Save rebates are part of the $4 billion GST Offset Package announced in the 2007 Budget to help Singaporeans, especially low and middle-income households, cope with the increase in the goods and services tax (GST) in July 2007. The GST was increased by two percentage points to 7 per cent then.
The rebates will cost the government about $620 million over five years (FY2007-FY2011), it said.
'U-Save rebates will be used to offset utility charges directly. The amount of U-Save rebates will be reflected in the utility bills for January and July 2009 for all eligible households,' said the Ministry of Finance yesterday.
Electricity bills were hiked by about 21 per cent in October - the highest one-time increase in about seven years.
The government's U-Save rebates aim to provide relief for the higher electricity bills.
