BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The federal government has relieved consumers with the deductions for gas and heat in December with 4.3 billion euros. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Economics in Berlin on Saturday. With the so-called December emergency aid, the discounts for private households were eliminated. Relief was also given to small and medium-sized enterprises with an annual consumption of up to 1.5 million kilowatt hours. Social, research and educational institutions were also eligible.

According to the energy industry association BDEW, around 20 million households will benefit from the emergency aid. The aim was to curb the rise in energy prices as a result of the halt in Russian energy supplies in the wake of Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine. The exemption from the deductions was automatic. For tenants, the relief should mostly arrive with the next utility bill.

For the relief, utilities can still submit applications for advance payment until the end of February, the ministry said. 3590 applications with a total volume of 4.4 billion euros have been received so far, 3212 have been processed in the meantime. According to the federal government, they will be reviewed by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The payments are made by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and the utility companies' principal banks.

Further relief is provided by the gas and heating price brakes and the electricity price brake. The price brakes, which come into effect in March, also apply retroactively to January and February. Since January 9, natural gas suppliers and heat suppliers as well as self-suppliers can also apply for advance payments for reliefs introduced with the gas and heat price brake. According to the ministry, payouts are planned from February 1./bw/DP/stw