Circular No. 70-TC/NLTL guiding the electricity subsidy for pumping water to drain flood caused by natural disasters

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Prepaid Electricity Subsidies for Pumping Water to Drain Floods and Counteract Natural Disasters.

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Pursuant to Decision of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (now Prime Minister) at Circular No. 3133-PPLT dated July 18, 1992, Office of the Council of Ministers on "Handling the Impact of Electricity Prices" regarding the State Budget subsidy for the Irrigation Sector for electricity costs when pumping water to drain floods caused by natural disasters, after discussions with the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Finance, the following guidelines for subsidies from the State Budget are provided:

I/ ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS:

The eligible recipients are companies and enterprises managing and operating water conservancy works (referred to as Irrigation Companies) tasked with pumping water to drain floods, which use electricity to pump floodwater caused by natural disasters annually.

II/ CONDITIONS AND SUBSIDY LEVELS:

When a natural disaster occurs with heavy rain causing flooding, Irrigation Companies must pump water to drain floods above the annual average level. The annual average level of electricity consumption for draining floods for each Irrigation Company shall be determined by the Department of Finance and the Department of Water Resources at the beginning of the year and reported to the People's Committee of the Province for decision-making while allocating irrigation and drainage plans and financial revenue and expenditure plans for the year equivalent to normal weather conditions.

The Central State Budget will subsidize the entire cost of electricity for pumping water to drain floods exceeding the approved annual average level.

III/ PROCEDURES FOR REVIEW AND DISTRIBUTION.

1/ When a major natural disaster occurs requiring flood drainage beyond the annual average level, the Irrigation Company shall prepare a report on the amount of electricity used for flood drainage during the disaster to the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Finance. After being reviewed and examined by the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Finance for each unit, the Department of Finance shall compile and report to the People's Committee of the Province to request a subsidy from the State Budget. Following confirmation by the Ministry of Water Resources that a natural disaster has occurred in the locality, the Ministry of Finance will review and temporarily allocate funds through the Department of Finance for the approved amount of electricity for flood drainage for each unit.

2/ Upon receipt of the central government's allocation for electricity for flood drainage, the Department of Finance shall act on behalf of the Irrigation Companies to immediately settle the electricity bill with the power sector according to the amount reviewed and confirmed by the Ministry. The Irrigation Company shall record this as a reduction in expenses not subject to business income tax.

IV/ RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE UNITS IN PROVIDING ELECTRICITY SUBSIDIES FOR PUMPING WATER TO DRAIN FLOODS.

To ensure accurate funding allocation to the correct recipients and purposes, and to finalize the settlement of the subsidy amount from the Central State Budget, units need to perform the following tasks:

1/ Irrigation Companies:

a/ Must organize complete and accurate records of the operation time of each pump, actual electricity consumption, and running time for flood drainage, confirmed by the power sector.

b/ Shall be responsible for reporting accurately the amount of electricity and the cost of electricity for flood drainage to relevant authorities to apply for electricity subsidies. At the end of the year, the company must settle the electricity cost for flood drainage as a separate item along with the production and business settlement report to the Department of Water Resources and the Department of Finance for review according to regulations.

2/ Department of Water Resources.

a/ As the direct supervisory authority of the Irrigation Companies, the Department of Water Resources is responsible for checking and determining the amount of electricity consumed for flood drainage after each natural disaster and is accountable for these figures.

b/ At the end of the year, together with the Department of Finance, it reviews and settles the amount of electricity for flood drainage subsidies for each Irrigation Company.

3/ Department of Finance.

a/ Upon receiving reports on flood drainage and requests for electricity subsidies from Irrigation Companies confirmed by the Department of Water Resources, the Department of Finance shall promptly review and compile the total amount of electricity required for flood drainage to counteract natural disasters to report to the People's Committee of the Province to request a subsidy from the Central State Budget.

b/ At the end of the year, it shall cooperate with the Department of Water Resources to review and settle the electricity cost for flood drainage due to natural disasters together with the production and business settlement of Irrigation Companies and shall be responsible for the accuracy of the reviewed settlement figures.

c/ It shall consolidate all approved subsidy amounts for electricity for flood drainage and process the final settlement of the allocated funds from the Central State Budget to the locality. It shall determine additional requests for allocations or recover excess allocations already made.

Irrigation Companies shall be legally responsible for honestly and accurately reporting this subsidy application. Provincial agencies shall be responsible for compiling, reviewing, and confirming the figures of the units and reporting to central agencies, and shall be responsible for the accuracy of these reports.

This Circular only provides guidelines for electricity subsidies when major natural disasters occur. Other regular expenses such as cultivation expenses, maintenance, dredging of works... must be implemented in accordance with point d, section G, part II of the Joint Circular No. 43 TC/TTLB dated December 14, 1985 of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water Resources.

This Circular takes effect from the date of signature, and all previous documents of sectors and localities contrary to this regulation shall be abolished./.

This Circular takes effect from the date of issuance. All previous documents of various sectors and localities that are contrary to this provision shall be abolished./.