Posted by
keeptalkinggreece
in Society
Living
without electricity in Greece has reached enormous proportions as thousands of
households are unable to pay their electricity bills that skyrocket due to
several additional energy charges, municipality fees and the so-called
“emergency property tax”.
More than
350,000 property owners and tenants cannot pay in time the amount on the
electricity bills with the effect that Public Power Company (DEH) cuts off
their electricity supply.
About 10%
of these households (35,000) forced to live in the dark seeks the aid of
‘activists’ who illegally reconnect the power, despite the risk to face
prosecution and criminal charges.
It is
only 6:10 households (210,000) that pay the bill and reconnect power, while the
rest remains also weeks in the dark.
Indicative
of the tragic situation is the the power outage increased in the last two
years, since the “emergency property tax” was included in the electricity
bills.
Electricity
bill* for a 110 sqm apartment for 3 months:
Electricity consumption € 70 (ca 800kWh)
Value Added Tax 13% € 9 = € 79
Fees (emissions,
power transport etc € 42
=
Municipality Fees
& property tax
€ 41
Public Broadcaster
€ 9
Emergency
property tax €130 (installment) = € 222
Total: €310
considering
the unemployment rates of 27% this is a nice batch of money
* the example is just
indicative
While the
number of power cuts was 300,000 in 2012, it recorded a 15% increase in 2013
reaching 350,000 and before the year expired, according to data provided by
Giorgos Kollias, president and CEO of DEDDHE, a subsidiary of Greek PPC.
Since
Greece sought the aid of International Monetary Fund, the electricity outages
almost doubled (80%), reaching 241,000 in 2010. The power disconnections
referred mostly to main residence and summer house, while 30%-40% affected
businesses that closed down due to economic crisis.
Regarding
the outstanding debts in electricity bills, they now exceed 1.3 billion euro,
while 700,000 payment settlements were arranged in 2012.
Exclusive
report published in daily Efimerida twn syntaktwn via
zougla.gr
- See
more at:
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2013/11/13/350k-greek-households-without-electricity-thanks-to-property-tax/#sthash.GFo4CXSl.dpuf
People on a fixed income such as Senior citizens who have retired, can be greatly affected by the increase of property tax. The value of their homes increase, but at the same time they find themselves unable to pay their taxes because of their reduced income. Unfortunately, property tax doesn't allow much wiggle room in the event of acts of nature or personal tragedy. Read More
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