Households that are behind with their electricity, gas or heating bills do not have to fear a shutdown of their energy supply this year.
The electricity and gas industry has decided to forego shutdowns from the Christmas holidays until the end of January, said the President of E-Wirtschaft (Oesterreichs Energie) and Verbund boss Michael Strugl and Peter Weinelt, chairman of the Gas Heating Association.
The campaign applies in hardship cases for household customers who have real difficulties paying their bills. This instrument was already used at the beginning of the pandemic. Now it is being brought back, among other things in view of the recent price increases for energy, which could lead to hardship cases. “Now it is a matter of relieving the pressure quickly,” said Strugl. There are currently around 500 clients at Verbund who are considered hardship cases and with whom there are individual solutions, according to Strugl.
At Wien Energie one speaks of “a few thousand households” that currently have installment plans – across all products, says Weinelt. At the same time, the professional association chairman calls on customers to contact the energy company as soon as possible if they have payment problems.
The earlier the energy provider knew about cases of hardship, the sooner one could react and find appropriate solutions.
Source: Nachrichten
