940,000 households to get U-Save rebates

About 940,000 eligible households living in Housing Board (HDB) flats will be receiving rebates on their utility bills this month through the goods and services tax (GST) voucher U-Save scheme.

The scheme provides lower-and middle-income HDB households with quarterly rebates to offset their utility bills.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday that larger families will receive 2½ times the regular amount of rebates. About 155,000 households – with five or more members living together – will receive this higher rebate.

In a Facebook post, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also Finance Minister, said: “I hope the higher payouts can better defray household expenses and will bring some cheer to families as we look forward to a new year.”

The value of the vouchers is pegged to the type of HDB housing, with $100 given to one-and two-room flats, $90 to three-room flats, $80 to four-room flats, $70 to five-room flats and $60 to executive and multi-generational flats.

The value of the rebates, which began as a permanent scheme in 2012, was doubled this year as part of the Government’s response to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The additional U-Save rebates for larger families were first announced by Mr Heng in February as part of the Covid-19 Care and Support Package.

MOF said the total rebates are equivalent to about six to eight months of utility bills for one-and two-room HDB households.

This is the final round of distribution for this financial year, with earlier payouts in April, July and October.

The Government is disbursing $630 million through the GST voucher U-Save scheme to support households, said the ministry.

“Overall, the Government has committed $5.9 billion in total for household transfers in financial year 2020, benefiting over 2.8 million Singapore residents,” it added.

The rebates will directly offset each household’s utility bill.