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  • Electricity bills double for Hanoians on meter reading date change

    Electricity bills double for Hanoians on meter reading date change

    Households in Hanoi have received electricity bills two or three times higher than usual this month after national utility Electricity Vietnam (EVN) postponed its meter reading date.

    Minh of Ha Dong District said the power consumed and bill for January are both more than double the usual at 2,127 kWh and VND6.7 million (US$271.4) though consumption has been completely normal and he bought no new electrical devices.

    The same thing has happened to Hanoi’s nearly 2.8 million electricity users, and EVN’s change in meter reading date seems to be the reason.

    The reading date has been moved to the end of each month from the beginning.

    Thus the January bill is for until Feb. 29 and not metered until Feb. 7 as used to be the case, meaning the bills are for two months.

    It is a one-time occurrence, EVN noted

    However, many consumers have correctly pointed out that combining two months’ bills would place their electricity usage in a higher tier. The pricing system is in slabs with higher per unit cost with increasing consumption.

    In Huong’s case, the first 350 kWh would be charged at multiple rates from tier 1 to 5 (VND1,806-3,050 per kWh).

    But if the extra 400 kWh is added, it would be charged entirely at tier 5 and 6 (VND3,050-3,151 per kWh) rates.

    EVN Hanoi has however reassured consumers it has made allowance for this, and the bills would be normal.

    For example, the tier 1 rate would be applied for the first 85 kWh instead of the usual 50, it said. Last year the reading date was changed in several provinces and cities. EVN had planned to effect the change in Hanoi last November but postponed it.

    EVN plans to apply the new date across the country by 2025, when electronic meters are installed in every household.

  • Vietnam wants urban residents to pay bills without cash

    Vietnam wants urban residents to pay bills without cash

    The Vietnamese government wants cashless transactions made viable for all household bill payments by the end of this year. A recent government resolution on changing the business environment to improve competitiveness and labor productivity contains a push to accelerate use of cashless transactions. Provincial and municipal leaders have accordingly been tasked with instructing all schools and hospitals, as well as electricity, water, sanitation, telecommunications and postal companies in urban areas to coordinate with banks and intermediary payment service providers in collecting bills and fees via cashless transactions.

    The government has recommended that establishments prioritize mobile payments and payment via card readers, and requested that the task be completed before December this year.

    Vietnam Electricity, the national utility, has been asked to ensure power companies work with banks and intermediary payment service providers to collect electricity bills via cashless methods and promote the use of electronic and mobile payments. The target for the year is to double the number of customers using e-payments to pay their electricity bills.

    The State Bank of Vietnam has been asked to come up with solutions that would promote the use of electronic wallets, wherein users can deposit cash into their e-wallets without the need for a bank account. The central bank has also been asked to find ways to remove imitations on e-transactions before the third quarter of this year.

    The State Bank must also require commercial banks and intermediary payment service providers to implement the QR code standard, and work with the Ministry of Finance to come up with a list of types of transactions that have to be done through banks, as well as make amendments to existing regulations to promote cashless payments for real estate transactions.

    According to the World Bank’s statistics released last July, Vietnam was the country with the lowest percentage of cashless transactions in the region with only 4.9 percent, while this value for China and Thailand were 26.1 percent and 59.7 percent respectively.

    While Vietnam rolled out an e-payment system for taxes in 2014 with 95 percent of companies registered, currently only 70 percent of tax money is collected via this method and many businesses still prefer paying their tax directly with cash.

    Similarly, while Vietnam has had policies to encourage consumers to pay electricity bills through banks and intermediary payment service providers, currently only 4.5 million people, or 20 percent of electricity consumers, pay their bills through these channels.

    The government’s resolution does not include rural and remote areas as the majority of Vietnamese living in such areas still lack access to modern payment methods.

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