The new power tariffs will not raise prices for households while increasing revenue for the sector, an official of the Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) said.

Hoang Van Tuy, Deputy Head of the Finance and Marketing Department under the EVN, told a recent online discussion on power retail prices that the 3 ways to calculate power consumption released by the EVN last week were aimed at reducing shortcomings in electricity payment, thus ensuring the rights and benefits to consumers.

He added that the Minister of Industry and Trade asked the EVN, in co-operation with the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam (ERAV), to evaluate the tariffs to ensure that poor and low-income households enjoy support from the government.

Tran Dinh Long, Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Electricity Association said the number of tariff levels was not important. However, the ministry should suitably recalculate the difference among the levels.

Long proposed calculations for power consumption to be divided into two levels of less than 100kWh and more than 700kWh.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, ERAV's director said electricity prices have a significant effect on all socio-economic activities as well as people's lives. This was why asking for ideas on the proposed tariffs would make a big difference.

"The new tariffs would ensure that retail electricity prices were higher than production costs while encouraging power saving as well as increasing transparency," Tuan said.

(Source:VNA)