Special Support for Electricity Bills for Small Business Owners, Application Period Extended

Support up to 200,000 KRW for Small Business Owners with Annual Sales of 30 Million KRW... Applications Accepted Until June 30

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small Enterprise and Market Service announced on the 22nd that the application deadline for the 'Special Electricity Bill Support for Micro Small Business Owners' program will be extended to June 30.

The special electricity bill support program is a temporary initiative established this year to alleviate the burden on micro small business owners caused by rising energy costs.

An electric meter is installed in a commercial building in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The support targets individual and corporate business owners who opened their businesses before 2023, were not closed as of the first business announcement date (February 15, 2024), have reported sales of 30 million KRW or less based on the 2022 or 2023 National Tax Service value-added tax filings, and bear commercial electricity charges (excluding residential rates).

Applicants confirmed as eligible can receive support of up to 200,000 KRW for their electricity bills. ‘Non-contract users,’ who use electricity without signing an electricity usage contract but pay for it afterward, are also included in the extended deadline.

There are also improvements to facilitate document submission for non-contract users. Unlike ‘direct contract users’ who pay bills through Korea Electric Power Corporation invoices, the scope of required documents has been expanded for non-contract users, considering the various payment methods they use. Unnecessary or cumbersome fields in the electricity bill payment confirmation form have been removed.

Micro small business owners who are digitally vulnerable and find online applications difficult can visit one of the 77 Small Business Support Centers nationwide for application and reception guidance.

Park Seong-hyo, Director of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, stated, “We extended the application period so that small business owners struggling with increased electricity usage during the summer can receive benefits without omission. In particular, since the burden of document submission for non-contract users, who had more difficulties preparing documents compared to direct contract users, has been reduced, we expect active participation from non-contract users.”