Seoul City Provides Water Bill Discounts to 100,000 Severely Disabled Households... Promoting 'Secure Livelihood'

Exemption Benefits for 100,000 Registered Severely Disabled Households
Exemptions Applied from May Payments, Applications Start at Dong Community Centers from March

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 22nd that it will provide water bill discounts starting from the May billing period for 100,000 households with severe disabilities registered in Seoul, and will begin accepting discount applications at 426 community service centers across Seoul from March.

The water bill discount for households with severe disabilities was a campaign pledge by Mayor Oh Se-hoon last year. Seoul has revised the 'Seoul Metropolitan Water Ordinance' and the 'Seoul Metropolitan Sewerage Usage Ordinance' and coordinated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to establish a new social security system, deciding to implement the discount starting from the May billing period this year.

The discount target is households with 'severe disabilities' registered as residents in Seoul as of the application date. With this discount implementation, 100,000 households in Seoul are expected to receive a monthly water and sewerage fee discount of about 8,800 KRW, resulting in an average monthly water bill reduction of approximately 38% per household.

However, the discount for households with severe disabilities cannot be combined with the existing usage discount of up to 10 tons (㎥) per month that is provided to households receiving benefits under the National Basic Livelihood Security Act or to households of independent merit recipients. As the discount will be implemented starting in May, those subject to the May billing must apply to their local community service center by April 15, and must bring their ID card and disability welfare card when applying.

To ensure smooth processing of discount applications, Seoul has already delivered citizen guidance documents and application forms for the water bill discount for households with severe disabilities to 426 community service centers across the city earlier this month, and has posted detailed information and application forms on the Seoul Welfare Portal website to facilitate easy access for citizens.

Gu Jong-won, Welfare Planning Officer, said, “We hope to alleviate some of the economic burden on households with severe disabilities who are facing increased financial difficulties due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic by providing discounts on essential water bills.” He added, “Seoul provides water bill discounts not only to households with severe disabilities but also to recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Security and independent merit recipients, and will continue to strive to offer more practical benefits to socially vulnerable groups in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.