PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): A total of 66,600 poor and hardcore poor households registered and verified under e-Kasih have received their monthly electricity bill rebate of RM40 each effective Jan 1 this year, says Yeo Bee Yin (pic).

The Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) Minister, however, said her ministry's data showed that a total of 142,200 households registered under e-Kasih had yet to register with utility companies, namely, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB).

"After taking into account the poverty line income of 2016, we target a total of 208,800 e-Kasih households to receive this assistance in order for the subsidy to be distributed to the target group.

"The government is very concerned and committed in an effort to ease the burden of the people through the 2019 Budget," she said in a press conference on the RM40 electricity bill rebate programme here on Tuesday (Jan 29).

During the tabling of the 2019 Budget, the government announced the increase of the monthly electricity billing subsidy to RM40 from RM20 implemented previously, involving an allocation of RM140mil.

Yeo said the number of the rebate recipients registered was less than the target due to some households' electricity bills were registered under other family members' names instead of the head of the family, apart from living in rental properties.

"I urge those who are eligible to immediately register their electricity billing account at any nearby TNB, SESB or SEB branches.

"I also urge all the elected representatives to be more proactive by going down to the ground to assist the recipients to register," she said.

Consumers can check their e-Kasih and rebate eligibility at the MESTECC portal, https://semakanrebat.mestecc.gov.my or by calling the My Government Call Centre (MyGCC) at 03-80008000.

She also said that the RM40 electricity bill rebate programme was an improvement from the previous RM20 electricity subsidy programme implemented over the last 10 years.

She added that the savings made would be channelled to other aid programmes that would be announced in the second quarter of this year. - Bernama