Fewer to get heating oil benefit this winter
The heating oil allowance will be reduced by 52.4 percent this winter compared with last year, and distributed to just 700,000 recipients against 1.1 million previously, according to a ministerial decision issued on Thursday.
Any heating oil consumers entitled to the benefit will also have to wait until next month at the earliest before they receive it, as a statement released by the Finance Ministry on Thursday said that eligible citizens who apply for the allowance by the end of December will receive it by February 2, 2016.
The benefit has dropped from 35 to 25 cents per liter and the criteria for qualification are much stricter than last year.
