Electricity suppliers are facing a surge in bad debts resulting from customers who opt to switch companies and leave behind unpaid bills, while just one in ten non-punctual consumers who have been blacklisted by suppliers and subsequently resorted to the country’s universal electricity supply service – offered, by law, by the top five suppliers – are paying fees for this service.

Energy company NRG’s general manager Anastasios Lostarakos, speaking to journalists at the Thessaloniki International Fair, highlighted these concerns and stressed the need for action, in the form of legislative revisions, to tackle irregularities, significantly burdening suppliers.

Article 42 of the country’s Supply Code requires immediate amendment so that suppliers may be protected from customers switching suppliers, despite facing unpaid electricity bills, Lostarakos noted. The longer the issue remains unaddressed, the deeper the financial hole for suppliers, he added.

Bad debt recorded by electricity suppliers has risen to 3 percent of revenue, up from 1 percent not too long ago, the NRG official highlighted. Also, financial losses resulting from the failure of nine in ten consumers to pay for the universal electricity supply service end up being passed on, by the participating suppliers, to punctual customers, the NRG official noted.