From the beginning of 2024, the end of the is expected protected market for gas and electricity service. This term will bring all gas and electricity utilities, if the transition is not made free market, to the market with gradual protections.
The time available is considerable, but users are already being overwhelmed with phone calls from uncertified electricity and gas companies offering new contracts, discounts on bills, concessions of all kinds. Suspicious phone calls and offers, all to be verified, often without official and authenticity, not authorized by the same companies in whose name these calls are made.
How to defend yourself if you receive suspicious calls in the name of this or that company?
In the meantime, it is advisable not to follow up on requests that are solicited and to take note of the telephone number that called. These are always numbers which - if you try to contact them again - do not exist or are not authorized to receive. From Enel Energia, one of the "victims" of these phone calls, comes some suggestions to consumer protection. The utmost attention must be paid to: 1) unexpected communications and/or communications not referring to previous requests 2) the authenticity of the caller, which – in the case of Enel – can be verified from the following page 3) any requests for personal codes or confidential data which, for example, Enel Energia never requests; 4) the reason for the call, the tone and the behavior of the caller.
Furthermore, it can also be useful to activate an antispam filter on the phone (usually it can be done from a mobile phone) which is used to automatically block unwanted and phishing calls.
There is time for the transition to the free market, but it's better to prepare
Therefore, from January 2024, those who have not chosen to switch to the free market will find themselves on the market with gradual protection. The time available is considerable but it is good to prepare. It is possible to switch to the free market at any time, even before the aforementioned date, by choosing the seller and the type of contract that best suits your needs. You can go directly to the sector Authority's website at the following link. However, the Adiconsum suggests making the choice by 15 November 2023. The transition from the protected market to the free one takes place between 30 and 60 days.
As long as the Protected Market exists, it is better to stay there until the last day, even if only to teach all those energy contract scammers who call from the free market (to cheat) a lesson. Then anyway every year it is extended, so there is no point in "preparing"