2.64M B.C. drivers still waiting for gas rebate announced in March

Thousands and thousands of drivers are nonetheless ready for his or her rebate cheques issued when gasoline costs reached file highs in British Columbia, and though costs proceed to climb, they should not count on something extra within the mail.

Premier John Horgan promised B.C. drivers a little bit of assist again within the spring. He said the provincial authorities would ship out $110 cheques to most individuals with auto insurance coverage, an effort to assist make ends meet after costs reached all-time highs in February.

The premier said the cheques can be issued by way of the Insurance coverage Company of British Columbia. The initiative would value $395 million.

HYPOTHETICAL TIMELINE

Initially, drivers have been advised to count on their cheques in Might into June, however as of the primary week of July, thousands and thousands are nonetheless ready.

In an electronic mail to CTV Information this week, a spokesperson from ICBC said the rebates began to exit in June, and that almost 600,000 prospects have obtained their cash.

Those that pay for his or her insurance coverage by way of direct deposit or credit card bought the rebate first, as deliberate.

One other 260,000 cheques despatched by mail have been processed, ICBC said, bringing the entire to 860,000.

However thousands and thousands extra are ready.

ICBC said the entire variety of reduction rebates issued will likely be about 3.5 million. The most recent replace suggests 2.64 million have not obtained the rebate they have been advised about in March.

ICBC was requested by CTV Information for a timeline for the rest, however didn’t present specifics. The Crown company said solely that one other 200,000 cheques are scheduled to exit this week.

It didn’t say whether or not the plan is to ship out that many each week, but when it was, the cheques might take 13.2 weeks.

In that hypothetical situation, the final spherical of cheques can be going out in early October.

ANOTHER REBATE?

On the time, the rebate was first promised, the business blamed the Russia-Ukraine battle for the ache on the pumps. The file was then 214.9 cents per litre.

Costs by no means actually went down after that.

Drivers have paid much less right here and there, however they’ve additionally paid extra.

Over one weekend in June, gasoline stations have been charging as a lot as 236.9 cents per litre within the Metro Vancouver space.

Even if drivers are paying fairly a bit extra at instances than they have been in February, when the rebate was introduced, there may be at the moment no plan for an extra rebate, ICBC advised CTV Information.

And to this point, the provincial authorities has not adopted the lead of others which have instantly intervened with costs.

Final week, Ontario opted to chop the provincial gasoline tax, inflicting an 11-cent drop within the per-litre worth for gasoline. 

Earlier than that, Alberta took the step of halting its gasoline tax of 13 cents per litre in March, in an effort to assist drivers scuffling with the prices.  n

In B.C., no motion has been taken past what the province said was a one-time rebate cheque, which drivers criticized as probably not even protecting one tank of gasoline, relying on the car.

The unprecedented gasoline costs additionally did not change a plan from the federal government to extend the provincial carbon tax on April 1.