Hundreds of euros will soon be reimbursed to all occupants of condominiums and social residences heated by collective gas who could not benefit from the freezing of regulated tariffs decided by the government. A situation denounced by the CLCV at the beginning of the year. The general delegate of the consumer defense association Franois Carlier reacts to MoneyVox.
Franois Carlier, is the CLCV satisfied with the publication of this decree which defines the contours of the assistance paid to users of a collective gas heating contract?
François Carlier: The text itself satisfies us and its publication was eagerly awaited at the CLCV as in all the co-ownerships that approached us. This decree puts an end to the status quo. However, we will be very vigilant in setting up this major project because there are a lot of specific situations. In some condominiums, the trustees have automatically passed on, in charge calls, the price increases applied by the suppliers. This led to tensions since the inhabitants thought they were protected by the freezing of regulated gas prices since November 1, decided by the government. Other condominiums have turned their backs while waiting for this decree, buying time or refusing to apply the price increases demanded by suppliers. It could have been hot in some places. We will have to follow the situation because some trustees have shown their limits when the situation gets tense.
What to expect?
heart rate: Financial compensation must reimburse the increase suffered between November 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. It could be deducted as charging calls are made but we have to wait for the implementation.
There has been a lot of confusion in recent months and the most unfortunate have realized that their contract – regulated tariffs (TRV) for collective contracts have not existed since 2017 – was not indexed to TRVs but to the market. with the key to very large increases in their bill. We talk about sums sometimes superior 1000 euros.
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Gas TRVs will disappear completely in July 2023. Isn’t that worrying?
heart rate: The CLCV intends to lead the fight against this decision the day after the presidential election. In 2017, the decision of the Council of State was taken in a completely different context. The current storm in the wholesale market is a life-size test of the risks ahead for consumers. When there was a problem, the State was able to intervene by freezing the TRVs, what will it do when they no longer exist? This is, for example, the situation of households that have been using fuel oil since the fall, the State cannot support them.
For a long time, it was explained that fixed price offers would act as TRV, but we note that during the crisis, these have all disappeared. What will happen in 2023 for those indexed on TRV? The contractual security of consumers is threatened.
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