In a press statement released on Wednesday (25 March), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced that about 940,000 Singaporean Housing and Development Board (HDB) households will be receiving the Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates worth S$134 million for the 2020 financial years, starting April 2020 to March 2021.
This is part of the Care and Support Package announced by the Government during Budget 2020 to help ease Singaporean households with their expenses.
In the news release, MOF stated that as a whole, every eligible household will receive a total of 1.5 to 3.5 months of S&CC rebate, depending on their flat type.
They will be notified of this via letters from end of this month, and the amount will be distributed every quarter, starting in April.
Since 2013, the Government has been paying out the S&CC rebate yearly in order to help directly offset HDB households’ S&CC payments.
For those households that make their S&CC payment through GIRO, MOF said that they will not be required to take any action as their own Town Councils will make all the necessary arrangements with their respective banks.
When Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat delivered his Budget speech last month, he announced that S$1.6 billion Care and Support Package will be allocated for households to help them with their expenses, during this period of uncertainty due to a slow economy and the ongoing COVID-19 situation.
Besides this, Mr Heng also introduces other measures like a one-off cash payment for eligible Singaporeans, a one-off Goods and Service Tax Voucher (GSTV) – U-Save Special Payment as well as help with transport expenses.