No plans to phase out subsidies by year-end: APSR
Speaking on the 'Economic Forum' programme on Oman Radio, Dr Mansoor bin Talib al Hinai, Chairman of the authority, reaffirmed the government's commitment to maintaining current support mechanisms while simultaneously working to enhance sector efficiency.
'There is no intention to fully remove subsidies until the end of 2025,' Al Hinai confirmed.
According to the APSR Chairman, the authority is currently working within regulatory frameworks alongside all licensed companies to reduce costs, improve system efficiency, and introduce alternative energy sources.
Al Hinai said that efforts are underway, and focus has been made on boosting service quality and cost-effectiveness.
Through service-level assurance standards, we will guarantee a consistent level of service for every electricity subscriber. We have already begun trial phases in the water sector, in coordination with licensed operators,' he added.
In his statement, al Hinai said companies that failed to meet the service-level assurance standards will be entitled to pay compensation directly to its customers.
"The Authority announced last year that electricity firms are directly responsible for granting compensation to their customers if they failed to meet the service-level requirements set by the Authority", he pointed out.
Al Hinai said compensations paid last year stood at around RO 60,00 following failure by some companies to provide the service-level required.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
FSA appeals against verdict in Sweets of Oman case
MUSCAT: The Financial Services Authority (FSA), regulator of Oman's capital market and insurance sector, has appealed against a Primary Court ruling in Muscat that acquitted three board members of publicly listed Sweets of Oman, while imposing a substantial financial penalty on one board member and several executive management staff in an embezzlement case. The appeal, filed on July 29, 2025, is in response to the ruling of the Primary Court issued on June 30, 2025, in the suit brought against members of the Board of Directors of Sweets of Oman SAOG for their term of office from 2017 to 2019, along with a number of the company's executive employees. The case concerned a criminal matter related to serious violations that caused financial harm to the company and its shareholders, committed by one board member in collaboration with several executive management employees. The Primary Court, in its verdict, ordered certain members of the board and executive management to return an amount of RO 5 million in favor of the company and its shareholders, in addition to bearing court fees and expenses. It, however, acquitted three board members of liability, citing the lack of a causal link between them and the proven damages, as determined in the court's reasoning. This acquittal has now been contested by the Authority through its recent appeal filed recently. The court's ruling followed reports confirming that the company's losses and damages resulted from gross negligence in fulfilling the Board's legal and oversight duties, with major shortcomings in five key areas: failure to oversee bank loans, including obtaining loans without assessing their feasibility or impact and recording them at non-genuine values in the financial statements; approval of financial statements without internal audit review and confirmation of fictitious inventory at a branch; addition of financial assets without legal approval, a board resolution, or clear funding sources; failure to apply policies for writing off doubtful debts under International Accounting Standards; and suspicions of collusion by certain executive employees in inflating revenues and understating liabilities, coupled with the Audit Committee's failure to fulfil its duties in line with corporate governance principles for public joint-stock financial companies. The Authority emphasized that these practices resulted in the presentation of inaccurate and misleading financial data, harming the company's financial position and the interests of its shareholders. This ruling reflects the Omani judiciary's affirmation of the principle of personal liability for members of boards of directors of public joint-stock companies, which does not end with the expiry of their term of office but extends for five years from the date of the act or omission, under Article (18) of the Commercial Companies Law. FSA stressed the necessity for board members to carry out their legal and oversight responsibilities with competence and awareness, ensuring proper guidance of executive management without excessive interference in daily operations or neglect in follow-up and monitoring, thereby safeguarding financial procedures and protecting shareholders' rights. This approach is reinforced by Article (206) of the Commercial Companies Law, which states: 'The members of the Board of Directors shall be jointly liable towards the company, shareholders, and third parties for damages resulting from their joint actions in violation of the law, actions exceeding their powers, or any fraud, forgery, or error they commit during the performance of their duties, as well as for failing to act with the care of a prudent person under given circumstances.' It is noteworthy that the ruling was issued after the court merged two lawsuits filed against the company's board members and certain executive employees. The Financial Services Authority filed the first lawsuit in December 2022, followed by a second lawsuit filed by several major shareholders in July 2023. The Authority reaffirms its full commitment to promoting the principles of governance, transparency, and accountability, and to exercising its regulatory role in monitoring compliance by companies under its supervision and their boards of directors with applicable laws and regulations, based on the powers granted to it under the Commercial Companies Law No. (18/2019), including Article (207). It also calls on all parties to strictly comply with the applicable laws and regulations, and to refrain from any practices that could undermine the integrity and efficiency of markets or harm the rights of shareholders and investors. Caption:
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Times of Oman
Two public opinion polls to be held
Muscat: The National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) in cooperation with the Projects, Tenders and Local Content Authority will commence conducting two public opinion polls on measurement of the awareness of the community with the local content on Sunday. The two opinion polls include two samples one of which represents the society and represents the employees of the public and private sectors establishments. The opinion polls come within the national efforts aimed to boost the in-country value (ICV) and to support the economic and social aspects of Oman Vision 2040. The two opinion polls, which continue to 27 August, also aimed to measure the level of knowledge with the concept of the local content, to measure the extent of community and constitutional interaction with the policies of the support of the local products and the national service. They are also aimed to study the factors affecting the preference of the local goods and to identify the challenges facing the individuals and establishments in adopting this strategic move. The first opinion poll includes the individuals of both gender aged 18 and above and displays their awareness with the basic concepts of the local content while the second one focuses on the Omanis working at the sectors associated with the supply, manufacturing, distribution and marketing and examines the extent of implementation of their establishments with implementation of the local content policies, the procurement priorities and the challenges in dealing with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Mahfoudh bin Salim Al Mashrafi, Director of the Opinion Poll Measurement Department at the NCSI said that these opinion polls represent a vital step towards the support of the decision makers with a clear vision established on reliable data on the actual condition and challenges of the local content in Oman.
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Oman's premium hotels earn RO 141 million in H1 2025
MUSCAT: Revenues from three- to five-star hotels in Oman surged 18.2 per cent to approximately RO 141.21 million by the end of June 2025, compared with RO 119.50 million in the same period of 2024, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The number of guests increased by 9.2 per cent to 1,142,702, up from 1,046,224 a year earlier. Occupancy rates rose by 14.4 per cent to 54.7 per cent, compared with 47.8 per cent in the first half of 2024. By nationality, guests from Oceania recorded the highest growth rate, up 57.9 per cent to 24,681. African guests grew by 40.6 per cent to 7,794, while guests from the Americas rose 22.3 per cent to 39,293. European guests increased 20.1 per cent to 358,190, Gulf visitors grew by 10.6 per cent to 83,140, and Omani guests rose 5.7 per cent to 384,222. Asian guests also saw a modest rise of 2.4 per cent to 163,286. The only decline was among other Arab nationalities, with numbers falling by 1.4 per cent to 48,453 guests. — ONA
