Under the program which is called Bantuan Prihatin Elektrik (BPE), 7.66 million domestic Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) customers within Peninsular Malaysia will receive a discount of RM 231 for their electricity bill. This amount is meant to cover up to RM 77 per month for April, May, and June 2020. In terms of consumption rate, RM 77 per month is equivalent to a monthly consumption of 300kWj. So, in general, BPE’s discount rate is equivalent to 3 months of free electricity for customers that utilize less than 300kWj per month.
If the information above sounds a little bit confusing to you, let’s make this simple. All you need to do is keep a look for the RM 231 discount inside your TNB bill for July 2020 as the energy company has noted that the BPE discount will be automatically provided in lump sum manner to customers. Meanwhile, the government has also implemented an amendment to the earlier PRIHATIN discount specifically for customers that utilize more than 600kWh per month from 1 April to 30 September 2020. From now on, their discount rate has now been increased from 2% to 10%. Even though the amendment has just taken place, the new discount rate still applies to the electrical consumption between April to June 2020. So, the 8% discount differences for these three months will be credited back to customers.
During the press conference today, Dr Shamsul stated that the new aid provided by BPE carries a total cost of RM 942 million and has subsequently increased the total amount of discount for April to September 2020 by PRIHATIN to RM 2.2 billion. The minister also pointed out that the PRIHATIN electricity discount is being funded by the government through Kumpulan Wang Industry Elektrik, Ministry of Finance, and TNB itself. So, all in all, there is a high chance that your TNB bill in July 2020 will look significantly different from the bill that you received in June 2020.
