Dl Bollette, Asstel disputes the ban on energy offers. Urgent changes demanded

In the decree designed to lighten the burden of bills, there is the risk of another bill to pay for Tlc, on which the sector is raising the alarm level. Asstel is thus calling for an urgent correction of the amendments made to the Bills Decree, denouncing a distortion that, in its opinion, ends up hitting precisely those Tlc operators that have expanded their perimeter to the energy business in recent years.

The disputed point is in the new structure approved in the House Committee on Productive Activities during the examination of the bill converting Decree-Law No. 21 of 2026. The amendments introduce into Article 51 of the Consumer Code a prohibition on making 'commercial solicitations by telephone', including through messages, aimed at proposing and concluding electricity and gas supply contracts, unless directly requested by the consumer or specifically consented to by the professional's energy and gas customers. Contracts concluded in violation would be null and void, and reports would be sent to the Privacy Guarantor and Agcom.

It is here that Asstel sees the regulatory short-circuit. In a communiqué, the association writes: 'As part of the legislative process relating to the "Dl Bollette", companies learn of the approval of some last-minute amendments that discriminate against those telecommunications operators that also offer energy services, preventing them from commercial communications on this issue to their customers'. And he adds: 'Asstel, in the interest of the tlc sector, has promptly represented this critical issue to the Government and Parliament in the conviction that the introduction of new regulatory asymmetries in the market to the detriment of telecommunications must be avoided'.

The substance of the protest goes beyond the commercial. Because the market has already shifted: for some time now, the boundaries between utilities, telcos and digital services have been less rigid, with telephone operators flanking their connectivity offers with electricity and gas as well, within convergence strategies that seek to increase customer value and stem the erosion of margins. In this framework, Asstel observes, introducing a selective constraint on Tlc energy offers means altering the competitive terrain. And indeed, the association relaunches the principle of reciprocity: 'If the rules must be equal, then they must also be applied to commercial solicitations on connectivity by energy market operators'.

Behind the stance there is also a broader industrial issue. In fact, Asstel recalls that 'Tlc companies have been denouncing for some time now a drop in revenues in the face of significant investments and the need for a dedicated industrial policy'. And again: 'We are the engine of digital innovation in the country, but this amendment does not seem to take into account the evolution of the sector towards other markets'. The demand is clear: a sub-amendment to put the text back on track before the final finish line.