The removal of subsidies in electricity bills is gaining momentum. Bills that used to be $1,000 are now nearly double that. The removal of gas subsidies is hardly felt, because this is not the time when this service is in demand. The rate that is replacing most middle-class pockets is water.
With the exception of households with a social share and those registered in the register of water contributions, customers have lost subsidies in that benefit since Novemberref. This implies it their bills have doubled or increased by more than 150%.
Aysa, who lost $80,000 million in 2022, it had subsidized more than two-thirds of the cost of water and sewage services. The company has divided its service area into zones: high, medium and low.
Those considered “high”, such as the northern corridor of the city of Buenos Aires, or the blocks with the highest purchasing power in the northern suburbs (San Isidro, Vicente López) and private neighborhoods, have remained completely without subsidies. There are more than half a million accounts.
Central areas still enjoy a 20% subsidy.. Villa Urquiza, Almagro, Villa Pueyrredón, Saavedra or Villa del Parque, for example, fall into this category. In March they will pay the full rate.
They had averaged just under $900 on bills. They’re already around $1,600 and coming up to $2,200. There are nearly a million homes in this category.
The “low” areas, such as the southern cordon of the city of Buenos Aires, and most of the suburbs, still have a 30% subsidy. In March the subsidy will drop to 15%. When I get to June, there will be no more subsidies.
Labeled customers make up the largest group – there are more than 1.7 million cases.
It will be very difficult for a ticket to be under $1,500. The only ones who could get away with it are those identified as users of the social rate. There will be discounts.
Today’s photo shows 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. And the number is expected to grow further by the summer. Tickets for January, which arrive in February, will average $2,000.
The feeling of customers is that the price of the service has tripled, but the technical explanation is that they have been removed grants, which covered almost 70% of the fare. The removal of these benefits has resulted in increases that have surprised households.
Although not as widespread as the Energy Subsidy Storage Register, there is also a way to preserve 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 is eligible for families with incomes below $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 they can apply in this registry, customers must also look at the back of their water bill. There is a “zonal coefficient”. If it is between 1.10 and 1.45, households will retain the benefit of a staggered removal of benefits.
Perhaps now, that the invoices are starting to take effect, the number of registrants will increase. Up until a month ago there were far fewer customers than in electricity and gas.
Of the 3.6 million households with Aysa account, about 210,000 have the social rate. That number includes residential (3.2 million) and vacant (400,000).
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.
Unlike the registration of light and gas concessions, where it was not immediately clarified that the beneficiaries would subsequently be excluded from the “saving dollars”, on the registration page of the water log 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. This means that the dollar obtained through debt securities will not be able to operate either.
NS
Source: Clarin
