PC Bac Ninh Join Forces with Customers to Overcome Difficulties Caused by Covid-19 Pandemic

In order to share difficulties with customers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Power Company of Bac Ninh (PC Bac Ninh) has joined hands with businesses and people to overcome difficulties, promoting production and business development and stabilizing life. Our reporter had an interview with Mr. Nguyen Luong Kim, Director of PC Bac Ninh about this issue. Nguyet Tham reports.

As directed by the Government on solutions to remove difficulties against enterprises and people due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the electricity industry will officially reduce prices for customers. So how will it be implemented in Bac Ninh province?

Implementing Resolution 41/ND-CP dated April 9, 2020 of the Government on its regular meeting in March 2020, considering the proposal of Vietnam Electricity Group in Official Letter 2015/EVN-KD dated April 1,  2020 and Official Letter 2288/EVN-KD dated April 14, 2020, based on the opinions of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC), the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Document 2698/BCT-DTDL dated April 16, 2020 on support of electricity price and electricity charge reduction for electricity users affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in three months including May, June, July of 2020.

In order to have a basis for implementation, PC Bac Ninh has reported to Bac Ninh People's Committee on the policy of reducing prices for electricity users and suggested providing a list of facilities for Covid-19 quarantine, medical examination and treatment, tourist accommodation areas to enjoy electricity reduction. We have directed power companies at district levels to review and make statistics on customers who would be supported with electricity bills, propose solutions to ensure stable and safe power supply for these subjects during the anti-pandemic period. At the same time, we have mobilized sufficient personnel and material resources to immediately implement the price reduction for customers affected by the pandemic. According to statistics in the province, more than 420,000 customers have had their electricity bills reduced, including more than 358,000 households; more than 64,000 agencies and businesses, and 46 Covid-19 treatment and quarantine facilities, with the total amount of support for electricity price and electricity charge reduction estimated at VND294 billion.

So which customers will get electricity reduction?

Based on the guiding documents of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam Electricity Group and the Northern Power Corporation, for customers in the administrative sector, the current electricity selling price will remain unchanged, while other customers using electricity for daily life, manufacturing, trading and tourist accommodation establishments will receive support for electricity charges in the entire period of May, June and July 2020.

Specifically: PC Bac Ninh reduces electricity price 10% for production and business customers in all time frames; provides 10% discount on the retail price of daily-life electricity from grade 1 to 4 (under 300kWh per month). Customers who are tourist accommodation establishments are entitled to a discount on electricity prices from the retail price of electricity applied for business to the same price.  For wholesale electricity prices in rural areas; wholesale prices for collective quarters and residential clusters; wholesale prices for commercial-service-daily life complexes: the wholesale electricity prices are applied 10% discount from grade 1 to 4 of daily-life price; the wholesale electricity prices for other purposes are eligible for a 10% discount. For the wholesale electricity price of industrial parks and markets: a 10% reduction from the current wholesale price is applied.

In particular, PC Bac Ninh reduces electricity bills 100% for facilities (not hotels) used to isolate, examine and treat patients suspected of being infected or already infected with Covid-19. It provides a 20% discount on electricity bills for health facilities used for examination, testing and treatment of patients suspected to be infected or already infected with Covid-19, and a 20% discount on electricity for hotels and tourist accommodation establishments used to isolate suspected cases of infection and already infected patients is applied.

All customers purchasing electricity for daily-life will have a discount applied for the May, June and July 2020 electricity bills; For customers buying electricity for non-daily-life activities, the discount will be applied from the latest invoice period from April 16, 2020.

With this policy, how will you organize the implementation so that all customers using electricity can receive a discount under the direction of the Prime Minister?

Immediately after receiving the guidance on support for electricity price and electricity charge reduction by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam Electricity Group, the Northern Power Corporation, we synchronously implemented many measures with the aim of supporting discounts for all related subjects to ensure compliance with the regulations as soon as possible, specifically:

We have organized a training course, instructed the directive documents of the superiors, provided software supporting the discount program for all employees in the company to understand and carry out the guidance, propaganda, make accurate calculation of electricity bill for customers subject to electricity price and electricity charge reduction. We have reported to Bac Ninh Provincial People's Committee on the program of supporting electricity price and electricity charge reduction, requesting the Provincial People's Committee to direct related agencies, departments and sectors to coordinate monthly to provide PC Bac Ninh with a list of facilities used to isolate, examine and treat Covid-19 patients, and tourist accommodation establishments in the province in order to promptly provide support to customers. At the same time, we have been working with television and radio stations of the province, districts and communes to make announcements on support of electricity price and electricity charge reduction, as well as necessary procedures for assistance on local television and loudspeaker systems, so that customers can know.

Along with reducing electricity prices for customers, we have also enhanced the maintenance and repair of the grid system in the area to ensure stable and quality electricity supply in the peak months of the hot season, helping enterprises and people to boost production and business, and stabilize life.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum