30,558 disputes were recorded in 2022, according to the annual report of the energy mediator published on Tuesday. He emphasizes that his services have never been so much in demand for advice. Suppliers Ohm nergie, Gaz de Bordeaux, Mint Energie, Mega Energie and Wekiwi are singled out for their bad practices.
The energy price crisis coupled with the end of the regulated gas tariff have led the French to seek the services of the energy mediator as never before. Exactly 4.6 million consumers – an increase of 27% – requested lighting on the price shield or the compliance of the pricing practices of certain suppliers. So 30,558 disputes were registered in 2022, according to the body’s annual report published on Tuesday.
While this number has slightly decreased, that concerning the prices charged has increased sharply due to the appearance of new bad practices among certain suppliers. To improve the functioning of the market, I will publish at the end of the school year a guide to good practice recommendations, written in consultation with all players in the energy sector. Their application will prevent disputes from arising which often should not have existed, explains Olivier Challan Belval, the national energy mediator.
The mediator’s red cards
Whether the temporary cessation of canvassing home and by telephone for the sale of energy supply contracts and the deployment of smart meters like Linky have made it possible to reduce the number of traditional disputes, the unprecedented increases in energy prices have often been passed on by certain suppliers in a way that is not very transparent, even incomprehensible or misleading, causing a sharp increase in this type of dispute. The share of disputes related to price changes has doubled compared to 2021, rising from 8 to 16%.
Result, the national energy mediator awards a red card in 2022 to suppliers Ohm nergie, Gaz de Bordeaux, Mint Energie, Mega Energie and Wekiwi for practices that do not respect consumers. Even if these five suppliers do not have a monopoly on bad behavior.
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In 2022, the energy mediator denounces:
- Prices not known at the time the energy was consumed. This is notably the case of Mint energie, Mega nergie and Gaz de Bordeaux which marketed supply offers whose price, indexed to market prices, was not known at the time the energy was consumed, since this price could only be determined at the end of the month.
- Contracts that do not allow you to benefit from the tariff shield. Thus Gaz de Bordeaux has refused until September 2022 to market gas supply contracts allowing its market offer customers to benefit from the tariff shield. Those who lived in the historic service area of this supplier, and whose contract failed, were therefore faced with very significant price increases, without being able to sign a contract with another gas supplier.
- Changes to contracts in progress, without providing fair and transparent information. Several suppliers, notably Mint Energie, Mega nergie and Wekiwi have used article L. 224-10 of the consumer code to inform their customers of price increases during the contract, but in a way that is insufficiently transparent and understandable. Article L. 224-10 of the Consumer Code requires suppliers to inform their customers of any proposed modification of the contractual conditions, at least one month before the envisaged date of application.
- Sharp price increases occurring shortly after the subscription of offers at particularly attractive prices. The supplier Ohm nergie thus informed its customers, sometimes only a few weeks after taking out their contract, of a sharp rise in its prices. In the fall of 2022, he even encouraged them to terminate their contract and sign a new one from April 2023.