Proposal to Allow Households to Use CDC Vouchers to Offset Utilities Charges

97 Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (a) whether the Ministry will integrate the U-Save Rebate scheme with the CDC Vouchers scheme to allow households to use CDC vouchers to offset utilities charges; and (b) whether the Ministry assesses that such flexibility, where unused vouchers can be spent at heartland merchants and supermarkets, will incentivise greater household energy efficiency.

Mr Jeffrey Siow: The Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebates and Community Development Council (CDC) Vouchers are designed to help Singaporeans in different areas. U-Save rebates help households with their utilities expenses. The CDC Vouchers scheme helps Singaporean households with their cost of living, and supports heartland merchants and hawkers at the same time. As such, CDC Vouchers can only be spent at participating supermarkets and heartland businesses.

Both schemes are working well and there are no plans to integrate them. U-Save rebates do not have an expiry date, so the design already preserves the incentive for households to use energy efficiently.