Invoicing for electricity and gas consumption sent late, without demonstrating the responsibility of the consumers, with the consequent - and unjustified - rejection of the prescription requests presented by the users. For this reason the Competition and Market Authority fined Eni gas and electricity, Enel Energia and Servizio Elettrico Nazionale (SEN) for a total of 12,5 million euros. The fine was decided on the basis of the 2018 Budget Law which introduced the possibility for consumers to contest the two-year statute of limitations on credits claimed by operators in the energy sector in relation to multi-year electricity and gas consumption billed late, except in the case of "certified responsibility" of the users themselves.
After the entry into force of this discipline, numerous consumers have reported to the Authority the non-acceptance of the two-year prescription requests by Eni, Enel and SEN, which was followed by the unjustified payment of prescribed receivables. As has been ascertained, in thousands of cases, the companies charged the users with the responsibility for not reading the meters against the reading attempts declared by the distributor. However, the Antitrust still explains in the press release with which it published the fine, such attempts were not only not documented, but were often contradicted by the evidence provided by consumers, even during settlement: for example, the accessibility of the meter or the presence in the home of the user, his relatives or the concierge of the building at the time of the alleged attempt to read the meter.
Furthermore, during the proceeding it emerged that Enel Energia and Servizio Elettrico Nazionale immediately debited the invoiced amounts subject to prescription to users who had chosen bank/postal direct debit or the use of credit card as payment method, sometimes ignoring the prescription request raised by users or notifying them of the relative rejection only later. A dynamic judged by the Authority to be particularly incorrect and such as to require a severe fine, which in detail consists of 4 million euros for Enel Energia, 3,5 million euros for the National Electric Service, and 5 million euros for Eni gas and electricity. euro, equal to the statutory maximum. Now corrupted users are entitled to get reimbursement of payments already made within three months as an undue compensation.
Enel's reaction was immediate, which announced in a press release that it "has always acted in full compliance with the relevant primary and regulatory legislation, recognizing the right of consumers to obtain prescription of invoices, in accordance with the rules introduced by the legislator in 2018 and subsequently amended from 2020".
in particular, Enel "believes that the interpretation and application of the rules, as defined during the investigation by the Authority, risk giving retroactive effect to the new statute of limitations or contrary to constitutional principles”. According to the energy company, this decision risks creating a precedent and for this reason "it reserves as of now any action for its own protection, confident that it will be able to demonstrate the full legitimacy and correctness of its actions in the subsequent phases of the trial".
Eni also replies to the Antitrust distinguishing between its responsibilities for delays and those of the distributor or customer. And he recalls that “Eni gas and electricity carries out accurate checks in line with the provisions of the Arera which attributes official value to what is declared by the distribution company. The Agcm, going against Arera's regulation, thus effectively endorses potential incorrect and specious behavior by customers to the detriment of the entire system". Therefore Eni “is carefully evaluating an appeal against the decision, as it believes that it has always treated the prescription requests of its customers with care and fairness".
