RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, has proposed a relaxation of existing supplier-switching rules in the natural gas market, currently far stricter than corresponding terms faced by consumers in the retail electricity market.

The authority’s proposals for the natural gas market, forwarded for public consultation, would align the sector’s supplier-switching rules with revisions planned for the electricity market, including the incorporation of a new debt-flagging system for customers with arrears.

As is also the case in the electricity market, natural gas consumers who have fallen behind on their energy bill payments will need to be offered installment-based payback arrangements of at least six monthly installments by their supplier before any supply-cut action can be taken.

Under the proposed new terms, natural gas suppliers will not be able to submit supply-cut requests to the distribution network operator against customers with unpaid energy bills unless a 20-day period has elapsed since the payment-date deadline of a second successive overdue gas bill.

Also, consumers with gas bill arrears will have the right to switch suppliers until their gas supplier has issued a supply-cut request.