Further delay for heating oil subsidies
Taxpayers eligible for heating oil subsidies will now have to wait until at least the end of November before they can collect the deposit of the benefit, as the electronic system for their applications did not come online on Monday as planned and will not be launched before October 28.
The delay in the launch of the portal on the website of the General Secretariat for Public Revenues (GSIS) in effect defeats the purpose of releasing the deposit, as it was meant to offer consumers some cash to buy heating oil ahead of the period when temperatures drop considerably in many parts of the country.
Professionals in the fuel trade stress that the new delay will hit sales and say that consumers are poorly informed about the allowance and very suspicious regarding the deposit of 25 percent of the total subsidy they are eligible for during this winter period.
At the moment trading companies are reporting an increase in sales to fuel stations, but demand from consumers has not yet matched that increase. However, a small increase in sales has been reported in Attica over the last three days.
