800,000 HDB households to receive S$40m of U-Save rebates

Channel NewsAsia, 30 Dec 2011

The Ministry of Finance said on Friday that about 800,000 Singaporean HDB households can expect to receive S$40 million worth of Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates.

A Singaporean household may receive up to S$90 in rebates, depending on HDB flat type.

Those in one- and two- room flats will get S$90, those in three-room flats will get S$50, those in four-room flats will get S$45, those in five-room flats will get S$30 and those in Executive flats will get S$20.

The U-Save rebates in January are the final tranche of the five years of rebates that were granted as part of the Goods and Services Tax Offset Package beginning in 2007.

The finance ministry said over the past five years, HDB households have received more than S$800 million worth of utilities rebates, inclusive of the additional rebates given under the Grow & Share Package this year.

It said that on average, taking into account the U-Save rebates, families living in four-room and smaller flats have not seen any increase in annual payments for utilities bills since 2007.

Other HDB households have also enjoyed significant offsets.

The U-Save rebates aim to help households cope with rising costs, including increases in utilities bills due to higher electricity tariffs.

The rebates are used to offset utilities charges directly.

Unused U-Save rebates each month are rolled over to the following month.

The GST Offset Package is a set of comprehensive measures to help Singaporeans with the increase in GST. The GST Offset Package will cost $4 billion over five years and consists of several schemes to help all Singaporeans.

Electricity tariffs to go up from tomorrow
Channel NewsAsia, 31 Dec 2011

From tomorrow, electricity will cost an average 2.3 per cent more over the first three months of next year.

SP Services said yesterday that electricity tariffs between Jan 1 and March 31 will increase due to higher fuel prices, which have resulted in higher power generation costs.

As a result, a household living in a four-room HDB flat, for example, can expect to pay S$2.30 more per month on average. The average increase for the next three months, however, is lower than the 6.8-per-cent increase seen in July and the 3-per-cent witnessed in December 2010. Average oil prices over the last three months - Oct 1 to Dec 15 - increased by 4.4 per cent, from S$121.68 to S$127.07 per barrel, said SP Services.

Households, however, could use their utilities rebates to help cope with the increases in electricity tariff. The Ministry of Finance said yesterday that about 800,000 Singaporean HDB households can expect to receive S$40 million worth of Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates next month.

Those in one- and two- room flats will get S$90, those in three-room flats will get S$50, those in four-room flats will get S$45, those in five-room flats will get S$30 and those in Executive flats will get S$20.

The U-Save rebates next month are the final tranche of the five years of rebates that were granted as part of the Goods and Services Tax Offset Package beginning in 2007.

The Finance Ministry said that over the past five years, HDB households have received more than S$800 million worth of utilities rebates, inclusive of the additional rebates given under the Grow & Share Package this year.

It said that on average, taking into account the U-Save rebates, families living in four-room and smaller flats have not seen any increase in annual payments for utilities bills since 2007. Other HDB households have also enjoyed significant offsets.

The U-Save rebates are used to offset utilities charges directly. Unused U-Save rebates each month are rolled over to the following month.