Germany is going to impose a tax on all gas consumers from October 1 to help suppliers fight rising gas import prices.

According to the bill, the purpose of the tax is to distribute the additional costs of replacing gas from Russia among all users and prevent the insolvency of gas traders, reports Reuters.

The document states that households and industrial consumers with long-term contracts will be taxed, which will be in effect until the end of September 2024. Gas importers will have to bear the rising costs themselves until the tax takes effect.

The tax will be a boon for struggling importers, most notably Uniper, Germany's largest recipient of Russian gas, which received state aid last week, and EnBW VNG's gas arm, the second largest.

German Economics Minister Robert Habeck said the tax would be between 1.5 euro cents and 5 euro cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and the proceeds would be available to all companies that need to replace Russian gas. This means that a family of four may face additional costs of up to 1,000 euros.

More details on the tax will be announced in August, the document says.

The local utility association VKU welcomed the measure, adding that the tax should be raised or extended if high prices continue.

Meanwhile, the government has issued an appeal to citizens and industry to conserve energy so gas storage can be filled before winter, aiming to reach 95% capacity by November, up from 67.2% currently.