Manama: Bahrain's parliament on Tuesday requested the government to freeze the drive by the electricity and water authority to cut off electricity from people who failed to pay their bills for months.
The request, submitted by lawmakers representing Al Wefaq, the Independents and Al Asala, the three largest blocs in the lower chamber, was made during the weekly session after several families complained that they did not have enough funds to pay the arrears and that they could not afford to have the electricity cut off.
The authority said that there were around BD62 million (Dh605.5 million) in unpaid bills and that 20,000 subscribers have fallen behind in paying their due.
The funds are needed to compensate for the limited budget, the authority said.
