Electricity meter. Illustrative photo.
Prague – The Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) has received dozens of complaints about fraudulent energy traders, so-called energy scammers, in recent weeks. Consumers notify the office, among other things, of violations of the ban on door-to-door sales or of false or misleading information provided by traders. Since the middle of last year, energy brokers have had to register with ERO. Over 800 legal or natural persons applied for registration, ERO entered 626 of them in the register. The Office informed about this in a press release today.
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In the second half of last year, complaints about unfair practices by intermediaries decreased significantly, but in recent weeks the office has recorded several dozen. attacked consumers by offering energy auctions. However, the increasing trend indicates that after last year's slowdown, dishonest intermediaries are returning to the scene,” said ERO Council member Ladislav Havel.
The office advises people to first verify the identity of the trader in the ERO register. If the intermediary is not in the register, he either did not apply for registration or has problems with granting it. People should not provide such traders with any information from existing contracts with suppliers and should definitely not sign new contracts with them.
ERÚ has so far registered 626 of the more than 800 legal and natural persons who have requested it. For 19, he legally refused registration. For another 150 applicants, the process has not yet ended, many of these applications have been rejected, but the decision is not yet final.
Currently, according to the ERO, people complain about intermediaries mainly for violating the ban on door-to-door sales, providing false or misleading information. Fraudsters also use unfair business practices, such as forcing people to sign contracts with a new supplier, which they pass off as a form that must be signed due to price capping. to the fact that this activity is carried out by intermediaries without mandatory registration,” ERO added.
