2023-09-08 19:39:00
The government has indicated that it wants to harshly sanction electricity suppliers who do not respect their “duty” to inform consumers regarding their contracts and their prices. Announcements which come following a meeting with the various players in the sector to provide solutions to the problems they encounter.
The Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher announced on Friday a “toughening of treatment” for “rogue” electricity suppliers in the event of failure in their “duty” to inform consumers regarding contracts and prices.
100,000 customers had been harmed
In August, the ministry indicated that some 100,000 customers had been shortchanged in their bills by the electricity supplier Eni – which had paid 50 million euros for “corrective measures” and had recognized incorrect invoices for customers who renewed their contracts in the second half of 2022, in particular because certain government protection measures had not been applied.
On Friday, the minister brought together consumer associations, electricity suppliers, professional federations, companies and mediators in the sector, as well as the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) and State services, to “address the difficulties encountered on electricity contracts and provide rapid operational solutions. “This meeting made it possible to challenge suppliers” on the “difficulties relating to relations” with consumers, the minister announcing “a toughening of the treatment of the few suppliers respecting neither the duty of advice nor the duty of loyalty and which discredits the sector to the detriment of more virtuous actors”.
We must “respect the rules and sanction where appropriate”
“I will not let rogue suppliers taint the professionals who in the vast majority assume their duty of advice and loyalty,” declared the minister, quoted in a press release. She asked the CRE, the mediators and the Fraud Repression Department (DGCCRF) “to ensure that the rules of the game are strictly respected and, where appropriate, sanction abuses”.
By the end of September, Agnès Pannier-Runacher “asked to distribute a guide specifying the information which must be made available to consumers by suppliers when subscribing to offers or during price changes during the contract, to allow consumers to make their decision with full knowledge of the facts. The energy mediator will also publish information relating to the commercial practices of suppliers in its comparison site.
Furthermore, regarding the price of electricity for VSEs and SMEs, the minister “obtained from some of the suppliers that they offer specific solutions” for customers who have “electricity contracts with the lowest prices”. higher (greater than 400 euros/MWh) which will still remain in force in 2024, in addition to the support measures that the government will propose in the finance bill for 2024.
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