Scrapped electricity surcharge puts spotlight on additional fees

ON THURSDAY, the State Grid Corporation of China, the national electricity supply monopoly, canceled the urban utilities surcharge it had been levying. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The total amount of the surcharge collected nationwide by the State Grid exceeded tens of billions of yuan a year. However, the surcharge was never written on the receipt that residents received when they paid their electricity bills. The State Grid should be praised for putting an end to the fee because consumers have the right to know where their money goes.

However, according to reports, the canceled fee is only one of six additional fees charged consumers by the State Grid, which, added together, account for 6 percent of people's electricity bills. It is not yet known if the other five are to be canceled.