With Resolution 75/2020 / R / com, ARERA to cope with the emergency from Covid-19, in implementation of art. 4.1 of the decree law 2 March 2020, n. 9 on the suspension of the terms of payment of energy bills to the Municipalities referred to in Annex 1 of the Prime Minister’s Decree of 1 March 2020 (see https://www.arera.it/it/docs/20/075- 20.htm) has established the suspension of the payment of gas, electricity and water bills until 30 April for subjects with residence, registered office or operational headquarters in the municipalities of the “first” red zone (i.e. Bertonico, Casalpusterlengo, Castelgerundo, Castiglione d’Adda, Codogno, Fombio, Maleo, San Fiorano, Somaglia, Terranova dei Passerini and Vo ‘), providing for the payment of bills in installments once the suspension period is over.

WHAT ARERA PROVIDES
The Authority, with reference to the supply of electricity and gas (including gases other than natural distributed by means of canalized networks) and to the users of the IWS located in the municipalities listed in Annex 1 of Legislative Decree 9/2020, provides in detail :

A. the suspension, until 30 April 2020, of the payment terms of invoices or payment notices issued or to be issued;
B. up to that date, the rules envisaged in cases of arrears of the customer / end user must not be applied in any case, even with reference to invoices or payment notices issued and already expired;
C. the suspension of invoices which, although issued after 30 April 2020, account for consumption made up to that date.
Invoices whose payment terms have been suspended must contain the information that the relative amounts will be subject to installments, according to a plan that will be subsequently communicated to the customer / end user, in addition to the latter having the right to pay in a non-installment way. and any improvement conditions offered by the service operator.
ARERA, in order to cope with the emergency in progress, therefore provides for an extension and adaptation of the regulations in force for the energy sector regarding the payment in installments of invoices with suspended payment terms, providing in particular that:

1.the sellers automatically pay in installments the amounts whose payment terms have been suspended, without discrimination and without the application of interest to be paid by the end customers, subject to notice to be sent to the interested parties by the end of June 2020 (the installment plan must in fact run from a date not earlier than July 1, 2020);

2. the payment of installments of an amount not less than € 50.00 is made with a frequency equal to that of the billing ordinarily applied to the end customer and in a number of subsequent non-cumulative installments of a constant amount equal to the number of invoices issued in the last 12 months and in any case not less than two;
3. if the amount of the installments calculated as in the previous point is less than € 50.00, the number of installments may be reduced, in compliance with the billing frequency and without prejudice to the foregoing;
4. in the event that the supply contract provides for the joint invoicing of electricity and gas, that the above must be applied jointly to the individual amounts;
5. however, the end customer is entitled to pay the amounts due according to the normal deadlines or according to a shorter installment plan agreed with his supplier.

With Resolution 76/2020 / R / com, ARERA gives urgent provisions on the electricity bonus, gas bonus in relation to the urgent measures introduced in the country related to the epidemiological emergency from covid-19. In particular, for the period 1 March – 30 April, in order to guarantee the continuity of disbursement of bonuses to citizens who are entitled to them, the provision provides that those who renew their application for a bonus after the original deadline provided for by the regulation , but in any case within the 60 days following the end of the aforementioned suspension period, the continuity of the bonuses themselves is guaranteed, with retroactive validity starting from the original expiry date and for a period of 12 months.

With resolution 60/2020 / R / com ARERA provides that the procedures for the suspension of the supply of electricity, natural gas due to non-payment of the customer / end user, as well as the contractual clauses relating to the suspension / interruption of the supply of gases other than distributed through the urban network are not applied with reference to the entire period of effectiveness of the Prime Ministerial Decree of 9 March 2020, between 10 March and 3 April 2020. The provision also provides for the establishment at the Cassa per i Servizi Energetici e Ambientali a specific management account in relation to the extraordinary needs of immediate availability of financial resources to ensure, in the emergency phase in progress, the sustainability of interventions in favor of end customers in the electricity and gas sectors. The text of the resolution was updated with resolutions 117/2020 / R / com, 124/2020 / R / com and 148/2020 / R / com.

Specifically in resolution 148/2020 / R / com, the term of the measures of the Authority’s resolution of 12 March 2020, 60/2020 / R / com, as amended by resolution 117/2020 / R, is extended in favor of domestic customers and end users. / com and resolution 124/2020 / R / com, until May 17, 2020.

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