Cooking gas bills to rise, Towngas says costs increasing
Local | 21 Jun 2019 7:17 pm
Households will pay more for cooking gas from August after supplier Towngas, a company controlled by billionaire Lee Shau-kee, raised tariffs by 4.4 percent.
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company estimates that domestic gas users would pay HK$10 more every month. About 1.9 million are expected to be affected.
The company also raised tariffs for commercial and industrial gas users.
About 50 percent of Towngas commercial and industrial customers will pay less than HK$275 extra each month, the company says.
Towngas last raised fees by 4.3 percent in August 2017 after a two-year break.
“Since then, operating costs including materials, staff expenses and rentals have gone up substantially, and the cumulative inflation rate was as high as 4.4 percent. Towngas has made every effort to raise revenue and reduce costs, as well as improve our workflow to enhance efficiency and control expenses. However, the increase in costs still could not be offset by the increase in revenue,'' Towngas Managing Director, Alfred Chan Wing-kin, says.
Towngas promised to keep its basic tariff frozen for the next two years.
