The number of complaints received by the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) about high electricity bills of household consumers is currently around 1,200, the chairman of the energy regulator Plamen Mladenovski told journalists, BTA reports. He specified that the complaints are still being checked and these are initial summarized results.
Mladenovski indicated that all complaints received by the end of last week have been included in the check. Every week, they will also be included in all electricity distribution companies, with a total number of about 2,000-2,200.
Indeed, the final suppliers used less energy in November - about 20 percent less than last year and 20 percent more than last December, i.e. the increase in consumption is about 30-40 percent December compared to November, he pointed out. Mladenovski explained that what they are currently analyzing are the quantities used by the specific complainants last year for this period November, December and January, and this year - November, December and January. In terms of consumption, they coincide with the total consumption of the final suppliers. What we see is that between 40 and 45 percent of the complainants used less energy this year compared to last year. The rest have about 20 percent with about 10 percent higher consumption, which is normal given the colder weather, there are also those with actually several times higher consumption, he noted.
The Chairman of the KEWR called on citizens not to send complaints just “to be flooded with complaints“, as there have been calls on social networks regarding the KEWR. He explained that this is a huge volume of information and thus delays and makes verification more difficult. Mladenovski pointed out that there are many complaints where the invoice is 2 leva, those where there is no consumption, complaints where the subscriber cannot be identified and when talking on the phone to identify him, the other party claims that they have not sent complaints to the KEWR. According to him, in these isolated cases there is misuse of personal data.
Regarding what actions will be taken upon detection of actual overcharging, Mladenovski commented that each case is individual, but explained that if it is due to a technical error, for which there are already such justified complaints, the consumer's invoice will naturally be corrected, and if intentional abuse is detected, a sanction will be imposed.The percentage of invoices with technical errors is very small, but there are some. There are completely justified complaints in which an error has really been made, and the electricity distribution company corrects itself upon detection, Mladenovski pointed out.