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The energy mediator seizes the public prosecutor concerning the abusive canvassing of ENI

2021-04-30T15:57:26.267Z


Referrals from consumers due to this type of abuse have increased in recent years. At 98, Blandine was ordered to pay a gas bill of 1,314 euros, for a house in which she no longer lived. The dispute between him and the ENI supplier will finally be settled before the courts, according to information from Europe 1. The energy mediator seized the public prosecutor to denounce facts of abusive canvassing. " It is appalling for individuals to discover at the turn of a reminder for un


At 98, Blandine was ordered to pay a gas bill of 1,314 euros, for a house in which she no longer lived.

The dispute between him and the ENI supplier will finally be settled before the courts, according to information from Europe 1. The energy mediator seized the public prosecutor to denounce facts of abusive canvassing.

"

It is appalling for individuals to discover at the turn of a reminder for unpaid bills that we have changed supplier,

denounces the national energy mediator, Olivier Challan Belval, to Europe 1.

These are practices fraudulent acts which must be penalized.

"

Read also: Engie convicted again for abusive canvassing of EDF customers

Blandine was indeed the victim of aggressive canvassing.

It was his nephew, who takes care of his administrative affairs, who got his hands on these important invoices and who decided to join ENI to denounce their practices.

His interlocutor opposes him that a contract has been signed ... But the signature at the bottom of the document is not that of the nonagenarian.

Weeks of discussions ensued during which ENI recognized a fraud but referred the responsibility to external service providers carrying out the canvassing operations.

The retiree's family decides to contact the energy mediator.

In February 2020, ENI was already fined 315,000 euros after several complaints, concluding an investigation conducted between 2017 and 2019.

Strengthen the canvassing framework

The energy mediator is increasingly strict in the face of canvassing to which individuals are subject.

Last February, he even proposed a ban on doorstep selling.

Failing that, he called for the introduction of measures to strictly regulate canvassing for the supply of electricity or gas, while cases of abuse explode.

"

I believe that it is necessary to strike hard so that companies which encourage dishonest practices can no longer harm the energy market of individuals by betraying their trust,

" said Olivier Challan Belval in a press release.

Its services are in fact more and more often contacted for disputes relating to abusive canvassing, whether by telephone or at home: 1,883 referrals in 2019 against 1,416 in 2018. An increase which is "

very certainly

"

explained

by the the coming end of regulated gas sales tariffs. The energy mediator considers that it would be necessary "to

prohibit door-to-door

sales

for the supply of gas and electricity

", "

at least during the period to come, very sensitive with the end of regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas in July 2023

”.

Otherwise, it offers several guidance tracks.

The first would be to prohibit direct sellers from directly collecting the signatures of consumers canvassed at the location of the canvassing.

Then, to prohibit the start of the execution of a new contract before the expiry of the period during which the consumer has the right to withdraw (except in the event of a move in).

The third measure provides that any contract signed without respecting the rules would be "

absolutely null

".

Read also: How the State wants to put an end to untimely telephone canvassing

Finally, the mediator proposes to create an administrative sanction to withdraw the authorization to supply energy. This sanction would come in addition to the fines that may already be imposed by the fraud control services (DGCCRF).

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2021-04-30

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