Switching suppliers in one go

The Energy Ministry is facilitating the switching of electricity and natural gas providers at the click of a button on gov.gr, in an effort to support consumers in their search for the cheapest provider.

Switching providers is the permanent recommendation of the minister, Thodoros Skylakakis, to consumers, especially in periods of high price fluctuation such as the current one. Having already instituted the right of consumers with variable tariffs (green and yellow) to change provider every month, the ministry is also taking measures to facilitate this bureaucratic and largely off-putting process.

The “charter” that consumers are being asked to sign today when they enter into a contract with a supplier, such as authorizations, solemn declarations etc, will be replaced with a few clicks on the gov.gr platform.

The Energy Ministry, in collaboration with that of of Digital Governance, is currently completing the relevant service, which is expected to be presented and made available to consumers in August.

“The goal is to have a platform that renders consumers’ information automatically so that the change of provider is done without the exchange of physical or digital documents,” a competent ministry official told Kathimerini. The consumer who wants to switch providers will submit an application via the online platform. Then the provider will inform them electronically of the information they require in order to proceed with the contract, asking for their consent to complete the process. This simplified way of switching supplier will be implemented almost simultaneously with the measures to limit the movement of “strategic defaulters” that the Energy Ministry announced last October.

In the context of implementing these measures, the electricity regulator (RAAEY) completed the relevant consultation at the end of April (amendment of Article 42 of the Procurement Code), without, however, making a decision.

Suppliers say the month-to-month right of consumers to switch providers has fueled the phenomenon of “energy tourism,” which refers to consumers who move from supplier to supplier while leaving debts behind. Suppliers estimate these outstanding debts at over 500 million euros.