Almost eight million low-income families are not using their right to pay their electricity bills with discounts that can reach 100%. According to the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), of the 24.9 million families eligible to receive the Social Electric Energy Tariff (Tsee), only 17.05 million receive the benefit, that is, 7.92 million have the right to the discount but do not use it. Aneel data refers to February 2024.
Currently, the Social Tariff is automatically granted to families that are registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government (CadÚnico). If the family meets the requirement of having a per capita family income of half a minimum wage and is not yet on CadÚnico, the federal government’s guidance is to apply for the benefit at the Social Assistance Reference Centers (Cras) available throughout the country.
The states where the discount is, proportionally, most used by families with this right are Ceará (87.2% of families eligible to receive the benefit use it), followed by Paraíba (79.9% of families use it), and Alagoas ( 79.5%). The states with the lowest use are Amazonas (only 32.7% of eligible families use it), followed by the Federal District (38.9%), and Santa Catarina (42.3%).
The Social Electricity Tariff was created in 2002. To take advantage of the benefit, families must meet requirements, such as CadÚnico registration and have a monthly family income of up to half the minimum wage per person.
The measure is also extended to families with a monthly income of up to three minimum wages who have a person with a disability (physical, motor, hearing, visual, intellectual or multiple), whose treatment requires devices that consume electricity. Elderly people over 65 years of age and people with disabilities who receive the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC) can also request the discount.
Families in the low-income subclass with consumption of up to 30 kWh per month pay 65% less on their electricity bill. The second discount range is 40% and is applied to those who consume from 31 kWh to 100 kWh per month. The third discount range is from 101 kWh to 220 kWh monthly, with a discount of 10%.
For indigenous and quilombola families registered in the Single Registry, the conditions are different: up to 50 kWh per month, the energy bill has a 100% discount. For the consumption range of 51 kWh to 100 kWh per month, the discount is 40%. The rebate is 10% for the consumption range of 101 kWh to 220 kWh per month.
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