Energy assistance for residents will be provided either by setting prices in the electricity, gas, or heating sectors and defining the conditions for their application, or through energy vouchers.
Households whose income falls below the threshold set by a government regulation will be entitled to this aid. This follows from the draft law on targeted energy assistance, which the government approved on Wednesday. Prime Minister Robert Fico’s (Smer-SD) cabinet also asked parliament to debate the bill under a fast-track legislative procedure.
“The aim of the draft law is to ensure an appropriate and adequate legal and institutional framework for providing help with increased energy prices (electricity, gas, and heat) to energy households to the extent and in the form established by government regulation,” stated the Ministry of Economy (MH) of the Slovak Republic in the explanatory report to the law.
The draft law sets conditions for the creation and termination of the right to targeted energy assistance, as well as the legal relationships involved in providing such assistance, and the rights and obligations of the entities participating in it.
The Ministry of Economy will electronically inform households about whether they qualify for the aid and in what form. Anyone who is denied targeted energy assistance may file an objection within 60 days from the date the right to assistance arose or should have arisen, or from the date of delivery of the energy voucher if disputing the calculation of its value.
The government regulation will also specify, among other things, the type of residence required at the consumption address for an individual to qualify as an “energy household,” the data used to calculate household income for determining eligibility, details on how the household’s financial capacity is assessed, and the calculation of the household size coefficient.
Economy Minister Denisa Saková (Hlas-SD) clarified that this is an institutional and legal framework that defines the rights for establishing and terminating targeted energy assistance, as well as the rights and duties of state administration bodies cooperating in its delivery.
According to the minister, the government will generally approve the regulation for a one-year period. Based on this law, the government will be able to approve a new regulation before the start of each calendar year, allowing the conditions to change from year to year.
Source: STVR
