Neither the abolition of electricity subsidies nor the abolition of gas subsidies. The rise in bills that ended up surprising most households was that of the water and sewage.
The state provider Aysa He divided his clientele into three zones: high, medium and lower-middle. To customers who live in high-rise areas -most neighborhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, for example- all subsidies removed from November 1st. This means that customers who previously paid $500 are now paying $1,500. Or that families accustomed to a consumption of $1,100 were faced with a bill of $2,600.
Although the feeling of customers is that the price of the service has tripled, the reality is that the subsidies, which covered almost 70% of the tariff, have been removed. The removal of these benefits has resulted in increases that have surprised households.
Though it hasn’t had as much census circulation to conserve energy subsidies, too There is a way to keep some benefits in water supply and sewage. A register is open which will allow the discounts to be maintained, albeit with a limited scope.
It can be accessed by families with income less than $279,566 (two total basic baskets for a type 2 family according to INDEC), or a family member with a disability. The beneficiaries will maintain the same subsidy regime as the families denominated “middle-lower” areas.
To find out if customers can also apply in this registry they have to look at the back of the water bill. There is a “zonal coefficient”. If it is between 1.10 and 1.45 the households will keep the benefit of a remove staggered of subsidies.
Most of the northern corridor of the city is classified as an uptown area, for which he has already lost all subsidies. The same happens with gated communities and some other neighborhoods in Buenos Aires considered to have good purchasing power.
Most of Greater Buenos Aires, on the other hand, falls within the zonal coefficients “average”. They have a 40% subsidy until December 31st. They have maintained a 20% subsidy since January and are already paying the full rate in March.
The most neglected corners of the AMBA – labeled as zonal “medium low”. Income below $279,566 (two total basic baskets for a type 2 household according to INDEC). They will have a 45% subsidy through January, a 30% subsidy through March, and a 15% subsidy from March. The same formula will apply to those who register for subsidies.
Perhaps now, that the invoices are starting to take effect, the number of registrants will increase. As of a month ago, only 23,000 customers were applying to maintain subsidies to pay their water bill.
In October, the register for maintaining subsidies for water and sewage services was opened. The beneficiaries of social fee (about 210,000 cases) will continue with the discounts. But the rest of Aysa’s 2.6 million customers will gradually lose benefits.
The water and sanitation regulatory body (ERAS) is the recipient of requests for concessions in the services provided by Aysa. There they study the orders and then tell Aysa which customers have to keep subsidies.
Nearly 2,000 customers have signed up for the water register, but say they don’t want any subsidies. Most of them did so because they want to continue to have access to the ability to purchase “savings dollars.”
Unlike the registration of electricity and gas benefits, where it was not immediately clarified that the beneficiaries would later be excluded from the “savings dollar” scheme, on the registration page of the water register if this situation is clarified. “Users of the drinking water supply, while receiving a subsidy, will not be able to access the official foreign exchange market or carry out transactions with securities and other securities settled in foreign currency”, he specifies.
Customers classified as medium-low constitute the largest group: there are over 1.1 million cases. They are the only ones who will keep some subsidies, even if not so much: only 15% by June next year.
The houses called high zones are half a million and since they will no longer have discounts.
Mid-range customers pay just under $900 on their bills on average. The removal of subsidies will be gradual: a third in November-December, another in January-February and the last one in March-April. In June alone, they would be paying nearly $2,200 a month, according to company estimates. There are nearly a million homes in this category.
Source: Clarin
