Low-income families will have automatic reduction in their electricity bills

Low-income families enrolled in government social programs will automatically be included as beneficiaries of the Electric Energy Social Tariff. As a result, more than 11.5 million families can start receiving the benefit, with discounts of up to 65% on the monthly electricity bill, adding to the 12.3 million low-income families that already benefit from the reduction .

The protocol that allows the automatic registration of these families was signed this Tuesday (30), at the headquarters of the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), in Brasília, with the presence of President Jair Bolsonaro and several ministers. Before, it was necessary for each family benefiting from a government program to individually request the benefit, which delayed and made the process difficult, as most were humble, many living in distant regions.

For President Bolsonaro, the immediate benefit is the reduction of bureaucracy in the process, benefiting the greatest number of people with income transfer initiatives.

“Basically, it boils down to reducing bureaucracy, which we have been doing since we took over in 2019. This measure came in handy. We are living in a period – I pray to God – that is post-pandemic. Where the consequences of the measures adopted in the past, to fight the virus, led us to this situation, of increased inflation. These measures are the most humble that they affect, to the informal, because Brazil, with us, created more formal jobs, even during the worst year of the pandemic. So the most vulnerable and humble are affected by this measure, reducing the electricity bill”, said the president.

Bolsonaro also highlighted the increase in the number of jobs being created, despite the country just starting to emerge from the global economic crisis resulting from the pandemic.

“I remember that in 2015 and 2016, without a pandemic, Brazil lost 2.5 million jobs. And our government, even with the pandemic, has already created 2.5 million jobs. This is everyone's job, not just mine, the ministers, the secretaries, but all the public servants who collaborate with us in this endeavor. We have everything to be a great Nation and we will be, God willing”, concluded Bolsonaro.

The criteria for receiving the social tariff remain the same: families registered in the Single Registry with a monthly income of less than or equal to half the minimum wage per person are entitled to it, as well as families with illnesses who need an electrical appliance for the treatment - in this case with a monthly income of up to three minimum wages. Families with a member who receive the Continuous Cash Benefit are also entitled.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.