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Important announcement for all Romanians on the block
The competition authority completed the first stage of the analysis carried out in the context of the liberalization of the activity of supplying natural gas to domestic customers. Thus, the biggest discounts, of more than 200 lei, will be felt by those who live in the coldest areas of the country and, consequently, use a greater volume of gas for heating.
For this reason, the Competition Council recommends that people who use natural gas consider changing their contract or supplier, so that they can choose the most advantageous option before the cold season arrives.
In this context, the competition authority also draws attention to the importance of carefully analyzing the contractual clauses that are included in supply tenders.
Likewise, the analysis of the Competition Council highlighted that, to date, the process of liberalizing the supply of natural gas to domestic consumers has not generated significant interest for domestic customers. In the first month of liberalization, a large proportion of domestic customers were passive, and most of those who switched to competitors did so without changing the current supplier of natural gas.
Thus, at the end of June 2020, before the liberalization process began, domestic customers supplied with competitive natural gas represented 12.1% of total domestic consumers, reaching around 19% in July 2020.
Only 2% of national customers that switched to competition in July
“We believe this is the result of a combination of factors. On the one hand, during the summer, the low volume of natural gas consumed did not generate a particular interest in changing suppliers, as may be the case during the cold season, when Consumers may be more interested in the price of gas. and the price differences of the different suppliers. On the other hand, the natural gas offers made at the beginning of the liberalization process may not have been attractive enough to determine the change. current supplier of natural gas by domestic customers Last but not least, the level of consumer information about the liberalization process, in general, and how to change supplier, in particular, could be lower of the desired “. said Bogdan Chiritoiu, president of the Competition Council.
It is necessary to carry out a public information campaign
Therefore, the Competition Council believes that, at least until July 2021, it is necessary to carry out a multidirectional public information campaign.
Information and outreach efforts made at the beginning of liberalization must be intensified and continued throughout the process, and competitive pressure from well-informed domestic consumers is critical to the success of liberalization.
Thus, the Competition Authority also analyzed some of the standard offers for the supply of natural gas in a competitive manner developed by the licensees on the occasion of the liberalization, but also the draft contracts proposed by them to celebrate with domestic consumers in the market. competition.
There are also contractual clauses that put customers in difficulties
A large number of providers included a subscription in the offer, set at a fixed amount / day / place of consumption. This allows, in principle, the supplier to offer national customers a lower gas price than other own offers, which do not contain a subscription, or compared to the price offered by other suppliers in the competitive market.
Subscription gas offers are products that provide advantages to customers with a certain level of consumption, so some of the domestic customers, those with relatively low consumption, could be disadvantaged.
Therefore, consumers must choose between the offers proposed by the providers after making an evaluation of the advantage or disadvantage of paying for a subscription.
There are also contractual clauses that put customers in difficulties
In this analysis, the Competition Council found that, although the majority complied with the specific ANRE regulations, some offers and contracts also include clauses that, in certain situations, may create barriers for national clients to choose with full knowledge of cause. the most appropriate supply conditions that could block, even temporarily, the possibility of domestic customers changing their natural gas supplier.
The Competition Council also recommends that consumers pay attention to the contractual clauses, for example those relating to the guarantees requested by the provider, the invoice payment term, penalties for delay, but also the possible clauses that could hinder a subsequent change of natural gas supplier.
“We will work with the relevant Regulatory Authority and the Consumer Protection Authority to verify the general supply conditions and / or natural gas supply contracts and identify possible abusive clauses or deceptive practices. Any improper behavior by natural gas suppliers should be discouraged, as it can undermine the whole process of liberalizing the activity of supplying natural gas to domestic customers. “, the president of the Competition Council also specified.
ANRE has made available to customers a web application that provides comparative information on standard offers from natural gas suppliers
The application was recently reviewed and the changes made by the regulator point to better comparability of the offers from natural gas suppliers. The Competition Council also urges domestic consumers to use the new facilities of the ANRE comparator to identify the most suitable offers.
The competition authority also encourages domestic consumers to carefully review the suppliers’ offers, but also to request their clarifications on the contractual clauses. Furthermore, the Competition Authority considers it appropriate to introduce a standard supply contract, which sets out unique terms and conditions and is presented in a clear, transparent and complete manner. Thus, all operators would guarantee a supply of natural gas based on the same type of contract, without limiting the commercial freedom of suppliers to offer national customers and other contracts competitively.
Free gas connection
At the end of May 2020, ANRE’s natural gas offer comparator included standard offers for 46 suppliers, companies that already had national clients in their portfolio to whom they supplied natural gas on a competitive basis, but also suppliers that were trying to attract such consumers. Now, 62 suppliers have offers published on the ANRE comparator, which shows the greater interest of natural gas suppliers for domestic customers. It should be noted that the natural gas market in Romania was fully liberalized on July 1, 2020.
Recently, the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) issued an order by which the connection of domestic customers to natural gas distribution networks is free. In accordance with ANRE’s order, all network connection costs will be borne by the distributor.
