Sursa foto: Parlamentul European
The National Energy Regulatory Authority announces that it has started inspections of the main electricity and gas suppliers to check whether they comply with the obligation to issue invoices containing correct, transparent, clear and complete information on the final electricity and gas price cap as well as the consumption invoiced for the compensation period.
ANRE also verifies compliance with the obligation to send, within the legal deadline, the response to consumer complaints about invoices and the payment of the related compensation if the deadline is exceeded. The institution also verifies compliance with the obligation to issue the invoice with the final settlement in the event of a change of supplier and to send it to the final customer within the legal deadline.
The electricity suppliers checked are: Electrica Furnizare, E.On Energie Romania, Hidroelectrica, Enel Energie, Enel Energie Muntenia, CEZ Vânzare, Tinmar Energy.
The natural gas suppliers checked are: Engie Romania, E.On Energie Romania, Enel Energie, Enel Energie Muntenia, Premier Energy, Energia Gas & Power, Gaz Vest.
What should end customers do if they have any doubts about electricity and gas billing?
End customers who have a question about their electricity and gas billing should contact the supplier who issued the bill in question for clarification, who is obliged to provide a clear and easy-to-understand explanation of how the bill is calculated, especially if it is not based on actual consumption.
Insofar as the final customer considers that the reply has not provided the necessary clarification, he has the possibility to appeal to ANRE or other institutions with powers in this respect, or even to the court.
ANRE recommends the following to final electricity/natural gas customers:
conclude a consumption agreement with the electricity/natural gas supplier;
request monthly meter reading;
check that billing has been carried out according to the index transmitted
check in the contract the period during which the index has to be transmitted to the supplier and benefit from the self-quoting mechanism in order to avoid billing an estimated consumption and subsequently regularising it;
check whether the billing was carried out according to the index transmitted;
not to ignore notifications from the energy supplier of changes in contractual conditions, in particular changes in prices/tariffs. If these changes do not comply with the conditions laid down in the contract (fixed price for a certain period of time), the final customer has the right to refer the matter to ANRE or other institutions with powers in this respect, including the courts.
ANRE specifies that, in the case of the domestic customer, if the amount paid by the customer following the adjustment is more than 100 lei, the supplier is obliged to refund the amount paid by the customer within 5 days from the date of issue of the adjustment invoice. Amounts below this amount will be offset against subsequent invoices.
The National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) remains at the disposal of final customers with information on the liberalization of the energy markets, the process of changing electricity and gas supplier, and electricity and gas billing, provided via the “Call-center” telephone lines, which can be reached on 0374554265 (standard rate telephone on the Orange network, available from all networks) and 0219782 (standard rate telephone on the Telekom network, available from all networks).
Consumers can also submit petitions on issues relating to breaches of the regulatory framework and the relevant primary legislation via the Petitions section of the ANRE website.