According to the Authority, the six companies have adopted aggressive business practices conditioning consumers to accept increases in electricity and gas prices, in contrast with article 3 of the Aid Decree bis.
The fine was imposed in November 2023 but, to date, the sanctioned companies have not compensated consumers. Complaints and conciliation requests uploaded to the Arera Authority’s Consumer Portal are systematically responded to in the negative.
These are the measures imposed
The Competition and Market Authority has imposed fines of over 15 million euros against Enel Energia, Eni Plenitude, Acea Energia, Iberdrola Clienti Italia, Dolomiti Energia and Edison Energia.
According to the Authority, the six companies have adopted aggressive commercial practices by conditioning consumers to accept increases in electricity and gas prices, in contrast with the regulatory protection deriving from Article 3 of the Aid Decree bis. In fact, in a context characterized by serious critical issues in the energy sector with significant increases in costs for end consumers, this rule prohibited unilateral increases in prices for the supply of electricity and gas from 10 August 2022 to 30 June 2023. Instead, Enel Energia, Eni Plenitude, Acea Energia, Iberdrola Clienti Italia, Dolomiti Energia and Edison Energia sent users letters instructing them to accept price changes in the aforementioned period, resulting in significant increases in bills for their customers.
In particular, Enel and Eni – on which fines of 10 million and 5 million were imposed – unilaterally changed the supply prices to over 4 million consumers on the basis of contractual clauses which allow the companies themselves to decide at their own discretion whether and when to change the rates, once the prices of the chosen economic offer have expired. Thus, customers – even several years after the expiry of the economic offer – were sent letters with which Enel and Eni increased prices in the absence of a deadline known to the final consumer. It should be noted, in the case of the fine of 10 million to Enel, that it is the first time that the maximum law has been applied since the Consumer Code was modified.
Acea and Dolomiti considered that the communications of unilateral price changes, sent before the ban came into force, would have been finalized 10 days after they were sent without respecting the 90-day notice. These companies therefore increased prices before the correct deadline and, in the case of Acea, even with unilateral changes in violation of the law. For these reasons, sanctions of 560 thousand euros and 50 thousand euros respectively were imposed.
Iberdrola, which was fined 25 thousand euros, sent communications from May to October 2022 threatening contractual termination due to excessive onerousness arising in the event of failure to accept a new supply contract with worsening economic conditions. This conduct was also aimed at circumventing Article 3 of the decree, putting pressure on consumers to accept the unilateral change to increase prices.
Finally, Edison applied the price increase before the tariffs set by the contract expired. Given that the company catered to its customers and given the marginal number of consumers involved, the statutory minimum of 5,000 euros was imposed.
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