A senior official at the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on Thursday said that the government had planned to cut the power subsidy for all subscribers, including low-income families, in 2018.

Process towards total cut of power subsidy would be conducted gradually from 2016, Jarman, the director general of electricity at the ministry, said.

He, however, said that government is now studying alternative ways to provide subsidies for subscribers coming from low-income families.

"The subsidy for low-income families would be discussed with legislators after this year's election. The discussions would also determine further details of those eligible to receive the power subsidy," Jarman said.

Among the alternative ways considered by the government to provide subsidies for the low-income family group was offering pre- paid electricity service vouchers for each subscriber.

Indonesia has allocated 71.36 trillion rupiah (about 6.2 billion US dollars) of power subsidy in its state budget this year.

The government has set a target to reach 99 percent electrification rate across the country by 2020. As of last year the ratio of people with access to electricity has reached 80.5 percent, or 15 percent higher than 65.79 percent in 2009.