Deputy PM orders audit of EVN

At a group discussion at the National Assembly’s (NA’s) seventh sitting today, May 22, Deputy PM Hue said that EVN is annually subject to audits by both independent audit agencies and the SAV, the local media reported.

In 2017, the prime minister decided to establish a council to verify adjustments of the electricity price. The council includes representatives of the ministries of Industry and Trade; Finance; and Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs as well as representatives of the NA Economic Committee, the Government Office, the Vietnam Electrical Engineering Association and the Vietnam Standard and Consumers Association. The verification results were publicized, Hue said.

This year, the council will continue the task and announce its findings to the public.

After receiving local consumers’ complaints regarding the electricity price hike, the Ministry of Industry and Trade established three inspection teams to review the electricity bill calculation and the payment of such electricity bills; the teams will report their findings to the prime minister next month.

The prime minister also asked the Government Inspectorate to continue looking into EVN’s power price calculation, Hue said.

Regarding the power consumption ladder policy, Hue pointed out that up to 71.5% of households use less than 200 kilowatt hours of electricity per month and the prices for these rungs of the ladder remain low.

However, the Government will continue consulting with consumers and experts to adjust the prices for each ladder rung, the deputy prime minister added.

He confirmed that all countries apply the power consumption ladder policy.

At the discussion, deputy Tran Hoang Ngan from HCMC, also a member of the prime minister’s Economic Advisory Group, criticized the current electricity consumption ladder, noting that power consumption is divided into three rungs for progressive power tariffs in Japan and South Korea and five rungs in Indonesia and Malaysia. Meanwhile, Vietnam has six rungs.

In addition, the volume of power consumption for the first two levels is low, while the electricity demand among local consumers has increased.

He proposed merging the first two levels and the next two levels.

Meanwhile, deputy Le Thu Ha from Lao Cai Province said the retail electricity price did not rise by 8.36%, as previously announced by EVN.

Instead, households using more than 400 kilowatts of electricity per month will have to pay VND2,927 for each kilowatt hour consumed, up by 15% over the previous price, not 8.37% as reported by EVN.

The third rung bears a price of VND2,014, 10% higher than the previous price for the level, rather than 8.4% as calculated by EVN.

Thus, the electricity price was hiked by 10%-15%, not 8.33%-8.4%.

She agreed with Ngan that the volume of power consumption assigned to each rung is no longer suitable.

Meanwhile, deputy Mai Si Dien from Thanh Hoa Province proposed the NA assign the NA Standing Committee to supervise the development and adjustment of the retail electricity price range and issue a resolution to assign the Government to manage the electricity price.