Definite times for sending the closing bills in the event of a supplier change, transfer or deactivation to ensure compliance with the maximum invoice receipt deadline of 6 weeks from the termination of the supply, mechanisms to maximize the use of actual metering data, also by enhancing the use of self-reading, new automatic compensation for consumers of up to 57 euros in total for the most critical cases of serious non-fulfillment by both the distributor and the seller. These are the main interventions on the subject of closing invoicing approved by the Authority which from June 2016, making all the players in the supply chain responsible, will be valid for domestic customers and small consumers in the electricity and gas sector, both in the free market and in the protection.
In particular, the issue of the closing invoices must take place at the latest 8 days before the expiry of the established times for receipt (6 weeks after termination of supply) or within 2 days before in case of delivery of the bill by mail or web. To carry out the invoicing, the seller is obliged to respect a specific priority in the use of the data provided by the distributor: primarily the actual measurement data, subordinately the validated self-readings and lastly the data estimated by the distributor. If real consumption is not available, the seller will still have to issue an invoice based on the self-reading sent by the customer but not yet validated by the distributor, if communicated, or based on consumption estimated by the seller himself, however indicating to the customer that the invoice can be subject to further adjustment when the distributor makes the data available.
To limit the cases of invoices based on estimated data the use of the customer's self-reading is then regulated. In cases of vendor change or transfer of users not equipped with smart meters in the gas sector or with non-remotely managed meters in the electricity sector, they will be able to carry out the self-reading by communicating it to the vendor. In this regard, additional disclosure obligations have been introduced for sellers on the possibility of using self-reading, the methods and times for carrying it out. The seller, in turn, maintains the obligations of communicating the data to the distributor for validation purposes.
THE NEW INDEMNITIES FOR CUSTOMERS
The issue of the closing invoice beyond the established terms obliges the seller to acknowledge to the customer in the same invoice a compensation from 4 euros (from 1 to 10 calendar days of delay) up to 22 euros for delays equal to or greater than 90 calendar days. Even the distributor is obliged to indemnify, in specific situations, the customer and the seller to compensate them for the disservice. The customer has the right to an additional indemnity of 35 euros in cases where the distributor does not make available the reading (actual data, validated self-reading or estimated data) functional to the termination of the supply in good time for the seller to issue the closing invoice i.e. within 30 days of the end of the supply.
The seller will also receive compensation from the distributor in cases of non-compliance with the terms for making the measurement data available, as established by the regulation. In particular, the indemnities are: 4 euros in the event of a day's delay with respect to what was foreseen, increased by 0,20 euros for each additional day of delay, up to a maximum of 22 euros for delays equal to or greater than 90 days. Added to these new indemnities are those already envisaged for customers with accessible meters in the event of failure to comply with the frequency of collection of gas readings by the distributor (35 euros) and those already envisaged for sellers by the Electricity Network Code on quality and the provision of periodic measurement data in the electrical sector (see summary table of compensations at this link).
