Electricity market rules will be revised to stop consumers from manipulating legal inadequacies in order to avoid servicing bills, the reelected conservative New Democracy party government’s newly appointed energy minister Theodoros Skylakakis has indicated in his policy statement, presented during a three-day parliamentary debate.

A considerable number of low-voltage energy consumers are capitalizing on the liberty offered by an existing rule that enables them to switch to other suppliers without having settled previous power bills.

Unpaid receivables are estimated to have ballooned to approximately 500 million euros during the energy crisis.

Three years ago, the Council of State, Greece’s supreme administrative court, cancelled a ministerial decision that forbade energy users from switching to other suppliers if they had not settled previous electricity bills, either through full payment or commitment to installments.

In addition, penalties for consumers switching suppliers prematurely, before the expiration of supply agreements, were abolished last year.

These developments have prevented suppliers from being able to order supply cuts, through the market operator, for departing consumers leaving behind unsettled power bills.

RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, had put through consultation, three years ago, a debt-flagging proposal that was not adopted. Under that plan, consumers failing to meet extended, follow-up deadlines for unpaid electricity bills would have been subject to supply cuts and stopped from switching suppliers.