QuiFinanza editorial staff QuiFinanza, the vertical channel of Italiaonline dedicated to the world of economics and finance: the reference and in-depth site for savers, professionals and SMEs. September 30th is approaching, the expiry date of the aid for bills approved by the government at the end of June and implemented by Arera with the latest quarterly update on electricity costs. In the Bollette bis decree law, the executive had decided to extend the concessions intended to reduce the impact of electricity and gas price increases on bills, extending until 30 September three packages of interventions, including the zeroing of general charges in the utility bill gas, the hardest hit by the increases in commodity prices. Two other cost reduction measures concerned the cut in VAT on gas – with the renewal of the reduction to 5% – and the enhancement of the social bonus, i.e. the discount on the bill for families in conditions of economic hardship and physical (here the protected categories). What will happen on September 30th? If the aid is not renewed, the effects of the remodulations will once again be felt in the bill, both on the charges and on the VAT side. The executive has not yet taken the dossier in hand, also because the issues awaiting the executive when work resumes after the summer break are different. Furthermore, the concessions in the bill do not seem to be a priority at the moment given that there will be the benefits linked to the existing interventions for another month. Not to mention that gas prices, after the peaks reached last summer, have recorded a marked decline and made further measures to control less urgent than those already underway? However, gas tariffs will be revised upwards at the next revision. The hope is that prices will remain within certain thresholds because at that point it may not be necessary to renew the concessions now present in the bill. If, on the other hand, there should be a sudden recovery, the government has a new intervention in mind, which has remained under wraps for now even if it has already been announced in recent months, the so-called “heating bonus”. This measure should take effect from October and will essentially consist of a contribution paid in a fixed portion, without distinction of income (it will be reserved for everyone, except for those who already receive the social bonus) and differentiated on the basis of climatic zones (higher, in short , for those living in colder areas). How it works When the government decides to activate it – it will depend on the gas price trend in the coming weeks -, a decree will arrive from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security in agreement with the MEF, while ARERA will be responsible for defining the application methods and the extent of the contribution, the functioning of which closely follows that of the social bonus for gas. The government had initially set a 1 billion dowry for this measure, but the amount decreased during the course of work because around 130 million were then recovered from here to be allocated in recent months to the aid system set up for support the flooded populations of Emilia Romagna.
