L’Antitrust has started an investigation against Enel Energy to ascertain any incorrect commercial practices regarding the methods of communicating renewals. The information on the start of the investigation appeared in the Authority’s bulletin, which highlights the “high number of requests for intervention received”. In essence, it was reported “in addition to the difficulty of sustaining quadrupled or fivefold disbursements compared to the past”, also the “not having received any prior information” on the contractual renewal and “therefore not being able to exercise the right of withdrawal”.
Enel Energy promptly rejected the hypotheses put forward in the preliminary investigation, stating that it “has always acted in full compliance with primary and sector legislation, as well as with contractual regulations” and is therefore confident “that it will be able to demonstrate the full correctness of its actions in the continuation of the proceedings”.
“If illicit acts are ascertained, the increased sums paid in the bill as a consequence of the incorrect contract renewals will be returned to the users”, meanwhile the Codacons commenting on the decision of the Competition and Market Guarantor. “In the last period, users had received significantly increased bills, without however having been adequately informed by the company about the tariff changes applied – specified the consumer association – We are now awaiting the outcome of the investigation and, if irregularities are ascertained, we will initiate action to ensure that the consumers involved obtain the refund of the increased sums paid on their bills as a result of the incorrect or lack of communications on tariff increases, which clearly prevented customers from exercising their rights, such as that of withdrawal”.
Electricity and gas, the regions where you can save the most by switching to the free market
by Federico Formica
“For months, energy companies have been communicating to their customers unilateral changes in economic conditions, i.e. significant increases in the tariffs charged, communications which however often take place in a cryptic manner, for example through emails which the user may forget to read or messages which appear to contain advertising information”, he stigmatised Consumerism. “The increases were shameful and disproportionate – the National Consumers Union highlighted – We were already collecting cases in order to obtain a recalculation of the bills. Now, in the event of a conviction, a new way opens up to obtain the reversal of the amount paid for the bills so far.”
Over 600 reports have been received by the Antitrust Authority from individual consumers and micro-enterprises, also through consumer associations, who complain of having received, during the billing cycles relating to the four-month period October 2023-January 2024, bills showing a significant increase of the price of gas and electricity supplies compared to the bills referring to the same time period in the previous year.
Bills, do you really save money by buying electricity, gas and telephone services from a single operator? An analysis of the main offers on the market
Federico Formica
“Some users – writes theAgcm – report that they regularly receive invoices via email (or on the app), but that they have not received any communication of renewal of the economic conditions through the aforementioned channels and that they have accidentally found an email in the spam folder, coming from Enel Energia, to which it was attached is the renewal notice, following expiry, of the economic supply conditions. In the opinion of the whistleblowers, the email in question would have been ‘artfully packaged to be intercepted by the anti-spam filter’ also due to the relevance of the graphic part; the same, in fact, lent itself to being interpreted as a mere promotional message and not as a document having a significant impact on the supply contract, which was also taken into account neither in the header nor in the textual part of said email, no evidence was given to its object (i.e., the modification of economic conditions)”.
#Electricity #gas #bills #Antitrust #opens #investigation #Enel #methods #communicating #renewals
– 2024-04-22 19:54:49
