The £400 energy discount for households in Northern Ireland may not be paid until January, the Utility Regulator has revealed.
Households here are due to be automatically credited with the payment to help with soaring energy costs this winter.
The scheme was due to be rolled out from November, according to former Prime Minister Liz Truss but no further details on the timeframe for receiving this money off bills have been revealed.
Read more: NI consumers could save hundreds by switching energy supplier
The UK government has said it's "working at pace to deliver a solution which accounts for differences in the Northern Ireland energy market so it can get to households as soon as possible".
Kevin Shiels, the Utility Regulator's director of retail and consumer protection, said government ministers are "still working through" when households here will get the payment and whether it will be delivered as one lump sum or in several smaller instalments.
"The final decision hasn't been made yet, but will be made within the next few weeks," Mr Shiels told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme on Tuesday.
He said he was hopeful the scheme would be delivered before Christmas, but could not guarantee anything, adding that it may be January before customers accounts were credited.
The government has also previously announced a £100 payment will be paid to home heating oil customers in Northern Ireland.
The payment will be in the form of a credit to electricity bills.
The £100 will be delivered as a top-up to the £400 Energy Bills Support payment, which is going to all UK households.
The scheme will apply to people who use pre-payment meters as well as those who pay for their energy using direct debit.
Mr Shiels said the £100 alternative fuel payment for people who do not have gas-fired central heating was the "least developed" of the current energy schemes.
"It's probably going to be the last (scheme) to be delivered - probably into 2023," he said, adding that qualifying households may be paid the £100 through their electricity suppliers.
"That process still has to be confirmed and worked through."
READ NEXT:
- Pre-pay electricity meter emergency credit amount under discussion
- Belfast bar forced to reduce opening hours due to rising costs
- Derry business owner on bills 'shooting through the roof'
- Fares on NI public transport will remain frozen for another year
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
