The Walloon Parliament meeting in plenary session adopted, on Wednesday, a proposal for a decree providing, from next January, the intervention of a justice of the peace before any cut in the supply of gas, and to condition the use of the device on it. budget meters or a communicating meter with prepayment option.
This procedure will allow the justice of the peace to assess whether the consumer’s rights have been respected and to propose, if necessary, the activation of the prepayment device, a reasonable payment plan, debt mediation or to order a cut when the situation requires it, according to the parties of the majority (PS-MR, Ecolo) which carry the text.
The latter will also make it possible to harmonize gas legislation with that of electricity voted last February, which will simplify the administrative processing of non-payments for both the customer and the suppliers.
The decree will finally lead to better information for citizens regarding the options available to them in order to enforce their rights and facilitate the payment of their debt, before being imposed prepayment or cut-off. Two weeks ago, the Walloon parliament had already voted for a moratorium on energy cuts for the months of November and December, the decree voted on Wednesday then having to take effect.
