GOVERNMENT SHOCK Electricty price hike will most affect families with more children

(Patria) - As a unique organization representing and protecting the interests of families with three or more children in FBiH, and on the occasion of the announced electricity price increase and the introduction of tariffs based on the amount of electricity consumed, we are addressing this request in order to find the best solution, it was announced from the Association of Families with Three or More Children "Families Three Plus".

"First of all, we want to emphasize that families with three or more children represent the backbone of social development and the only long-term guarantee for the survival of our society in a demographic sense. Unfortunately, the multiplied financial and all other challenges of these families, unlike in other countries in the region, have not been systematically recognized in FBiH so far.

When it comes to electricity consumption, it is completely expected that households with a large number of children, in order to meet basic living needs in areas where electricity is essential, consume it in increased amounts.

We base the accuracy of this claim on bills for large families, which average over 400 kWh consumed, without using heating and air conditioning devices.

Therefore, the consumption of a larger number of kilowatts in these households is necessary and proportional to the number of children they have, and without the possibility of additional electricity savings.

We also point out that most of these families belong to socially sensitive categories. Taking everything into account, we believe that any electricity price increase further burdens the budgets of these families, who are already struggling to pay their bills, and we believe that any further burden would lead to an inability to pay bills.

It is worth mentioning that in many countries, the price of electricity is reduced for certain social categories, including Serbia, where 300 kWh are provided free of charge for certain population groups, which include large families.

We conclude that it is unacceptable to equate these large households with small households in setting the same tariff without concessions, as these families, who are already in a bad position, would be placed in a discriminatory position compared to all other categories of society. The encouraging fact is that many federal institutions and entities have already recognized families with three or more children as a special social category for systemic support in the law. Therefore, we hope that parenthood and raising a large number of children will be recognized and not financially punished!

Therefore, we firmly believe that you will find a modality and concessions, so that the amount of electricity consumed is not the only criterion for determining the tariff, but that the number of family members and children is taken into account. We hope for the consideration of our initiative," it was announced.