How much we can understand, in reality, of the electricity or gas bills? Is it really easy to compare the various offers from operators in the sector? And above all, is it easy to understand whether the increases are determined exclusively by the higher costs of raw materials or whether they are the result of a change in consumption habits? Or if when we see savings, it is because we have become virtuous consumers or they have removed costs from the bill?
Taking inspiration from these questions Arera decided to handle the bills of gas and electricity users. The bill, at least the one we have been used to knowing so far, is destined to be archived and will become much more similar to an energy receipt. The target is to help consumers, who, too often, get lost between the pages of the bills and are unable to have a clear and precise situation of their consumption and the costs they incur at hand. As if that wasn’t enough, every supplier sets their invoice differentlymaking it difficult to compare the various offers.
With the aim of redesigning the bills, Arera has promoted two consultations, which aim to understand what happens at home when the bill for the various utilities arrives. Do consumers actually read all the pages, or do they only stop at the amount they have to pay. But let’s see how the new bill will be constructed.
The new bill: the main chapters that make it up
During the first consultation carried out by Arera, the tools that will be implemented were made known to make billing easier. They essentially consist of:
- a unified title page, in which the main information will be inserted. Ensuring maximum uniformity between the various operators, so as to allow consumers to more easily compare the costs and consumption contained therein;
- one energy receipt, in which the amounts that consumers must pay will be highlighted. And in case they are beneficiaries, also the social bonus and it discount on invoicewhich is reserved for those families who find themselves in particular situations of economic or physical hardship.
How the unified title page will work
The unified title page must be included in the bill. Arera essentially proposed to include on this page the only amount that must be paid. In the next one, which will constitute the energy receiptthe invoiced amounts will be entered in detail, a box dedicated to the offer: in this section the information relating to the offer that has been signed and which is applied to the bill is indicated.
The key information that goes into this section
In addition to the amount to be paid, Arera’s orientation requires suppliers to include it on the title page a series of information considered key for reading the bill. Among these are:
- the customer identification data;
- the billing data et al payment;
- L’total amount of the bill;
- there expiration date of the economic conditions which have been applied in the offer to customers on the free market. This information, according to Arera, constitutes a sort of advance notice of any changes in the economic conditions of the contract.
How the energy receipt will work
The second page of the bill consists of energy receipt. The underlying logic according to which this section is constructed is to highlight the full costwhich will allow you to highlight the overall cost of the service. There will be a clear distinction between consumption And fixed quote – in addition to indicating the power used for the electricity sector – and every single share of the various expenditure items will be included.
Arera explained that the objective of the energy receipt is to allow:
For the end customer to understand how his consumption habits affect the total to be paid on the bill. Furthermore, the energy receipt responds to some indications from domestic consumers that emerged from the opinion survey conducted by the Authority: in particular, the importance of knowing and evaluating the details of consumption and the recurring use of the bill to monitor one’s energy habits. consumption.
The box reserved for the offer
As previously mentioned, the energy receipt finds space on the second page. The. is also provided here box which is dedicated to the offer. This section serves to improve the traceability of the offer that was signed by the consumer and its actual application during the reference period relating to each individual invoice.
The purpose of this box, in other words, is to highlight the amounts invoiced respect the offer that was signed.
A series of minimum elements must be inserted inside this box, among which there are the application date and the presence or absence of withdrawal penalties. The drafting of the box will be different depending on whether it is a fixed price offer or a variable price offer.
