Bills, Arera studies new protections for weaker groups: here's what's on the table

The aim is clear: to offer a further lifeline, on energy bills, to the weaker sections of the population. Hence the move by Arera (the Authority for Energy, Networks and the Environment), chaired by Nicola Dell'Acqua, to study new safeguards and protection measures for the most economically disadvantaged families that receive social bonuses, i.e. households with an Isee not exceeding EUR 9,796 or EUR 20,000 (with at least four dependent children). But at the Authority's attention there are also possible initiatives for those who benefit from the social bonus for physical discomfort and use life-saving equipment.

The proceedings will be concluded by 31 December, and the Authority aims to involve all stakeholders, starting with consumer associations and vendors, in order to receive proposals and observations so as to develop the most effective responses. But what is the intended direction? The aim is to intervene on several fronts, first of all by encouraging, even before the contract is signed, a greater understanding of the offer proposed by the seller to this type of customer. In fact, as the Reports on the functioning of the retail market also certify, the transition to the free market for these people has been taking place, for years now, at a steady pace, but not always through fully informed and conscious choices, with the result of limiting or even nullifying the reduction effect of the expense induced by the benefit.

Ergo, according to the Authority, there is a need to further strengthen the transparency and comprehensibility of offers - on which, it is worth remembering, Arera itself has for some time now begun a process of improving the 'transparency' of energy bills - and this in order to optimise the assistance offered by the social bonus and minimise, on the other hand, the relative charges imposed on the generality of customers in their bills and which, we should remember, enable them to bear the cost of these benefits.

There is, then, the intention of Arera to further fluidify the bonus allocation process because, as also pointed out by consumer associations but also by the reports received by the Consumer Desk, there is no shortage of cases of non-delivery of the benefit. Or even situations in which, the Authority records, bonuses are recognised but cannot be disbursed since the funds earmarked for the disbursement of bonuses are withheld by the operators in the chain (sellers or distributors).

Not to mention, again according to the photograph taken by Arera, that many operators in the energy and water sectors do not correctly report social bonuses to Sii (the Integrated Information System), the 'big brain', managed by the Single Buyer, which contains the information flows on electricity and gas users. And this complicates the correct monitoring of the entire benefit allocation 'machine'. It is therefore necessary to ensure, is the orientation of the Authority, that delays or non-disbursements are increasingly minimised, also by simplifying the disbursement process where necessary. In order to try to 'protect' this group of users, Arera is also ready to turn a spotlight on the chapter on instalment payments and possible arrears of bonus recipients because it seems clear that the consequences connected to such criticalities (read, in the final instance, disconnection of the supply) may produce even more serious reverberations for these types of customers.