Hong Kong officials reject call for electricity subsidy scheme to be extended for low users

An electricity subsidy scheme that has benefited 2.5 million residential customers for nearly eight years cannot be extended for an "unreasonably long period", financial chiefs told the Legislative Council yesterday.

The officials also again brushed aside lawmakers' suggestions to return unused subsidies in cash to users such as single seniors who use minimal power.

"Can the government show a bit more compassion and look at this from an angle of elderly care?" asked Federation of Trade Unions' Wong Kwok-hing. "I know a user who still has HK$7,000 of unused subsidies but pays just HK$17 [for electricity] each month. There is enough here for another 400 months."

Four rounds of the scheme since 2008 have provided maximum subsidies of HK$9,000 per household, with the last round set to end on June 30 next year.

The total approved commitment for four rounds amounted to HK$22.3 billion and the outstanding balance last month stood at HK$840 million. More than 90 per cent of customers have used up their subsidies but over 190,000 account holders still have average unused subsidies of around HK$3,000.

Wong asked whether it was possible to consider extending the scheme to 10 years or until all the approved commitments were used up.