Two-thirds of households pay over CZK 1,500/mth for energy

Prague, Jan 9 (CTK) - Around two-thirds of Czech households pay over Kc1,500 a month for energy, they mostly pay Kc500-Kc1,500 for public transport and motor fuels and 50 percent of them pay less than Kc500 a month for mobile services, said a survey by the company Ipsos made available to CTK.

The survey found that 11 percent of households pay less than Kc1,000 a month on average for gas, electricity and heat. Fifteen percent of respondents said their average monthly expenses on energy range between Kc1,000 and Kc1,500 and more than a quarter pay Kc1,500 to Kc2,500.

Almost two-fifths of households spend over Kc2,500 a month and some 8 percent of those polled said their monthly energy costs exceed Kc5,000.

Around a half of Czechs pay less than Kc500 a month for services of mobile operators. One-third pay Kc500 to Kc1,000 on average and over 90 percent of people pay up to Kc1,500 a month.

The survey has revealed a relatively big difference in monthly expenses on public transport and fuels.

Around 23 percent of respondents said their average monthly expenses do not surpass Kc500. Around one-third of households said their costs were higher than Kc1,500 a month and almost 12 percent pay more than Kc2,500 for the purpose.

A total of 29 percent of Czechs, the highest amount, pay Kc100 to Kc200 a month in banking fees. One-quarter of those polled said they pay Kc50 to Kc100 a month and more than a fifth of Czechs pay up to Kc50 each month.

Twenty-one percent of people pay more than Kc200 in monthly fees for their accounts, transactions and ATM withdrawals.

Almost all Czech citizens can estimate what are their average monthly bills for mobile services, transport and banking fees, while 8 percent said they do not know their energy costs.

Ipsos carried out the online survey last autumn among 1,014 respondents aged between 18 and 65 years.