RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, is examining the fairness of a one-euro surcharge added by the main power utility PPC to electricity bills of consumers opting to continue receiving printed bills through conventional mail, following a recommendation from the Hellenic Consumers Ombudsman.

RAE is believed to have no issues with the surcharge amount, which it considers to be fairly priced, but may be troubled by the swiftness of its implementation as the short gap between the surcharge’s announcement and introduction did not offer consumers sufficient time to decide and possibly switch to one of the electricity market’s alternate independent suppliers.

PPC implemented the surcharge soon after an announcement in early November.

RAE authorities have told energypress a decision on whether PPC’s move constitutes a market violation will be reached in approximately two weeks.

The one-euro surcharge has turned into a considerable cash-generating source for PPC as just 350,000 consumers of 7 million in total have subscribed to the power utility’s e-bill offer, carrying no print-and-mail surcharge, according to data from December 20. PPC currently prints about 40 million electricity bills per year.