The Consumer Protection Commission says it is also working with the Water Regulatory Entity to draft a new drinking water contract which will also be ready by next February
TIRANA, Jan. 10 – The new electricity draft contract, expected to give an end to ongoing power failures and oblige distribution system operator CEZ Shperndarje to take responsibility for damage, is being discussed with interest groups before receiving the final approval by the Energy Regulatory Entity (ERE) by next February.
However, experts doubt the new contract which for the first time obliges the new private distribution operator to compensate consumers in case of financial damage because of power quality or unjustified cuts does not make consumers fully protected.
Expert Gjergj Simaku told Top Channel TV that the key disadvantage of the new contract is that consumers’ complaints will be assessed based on the Czech company’s internal rules and not ERE’s Code, leaving room for possible abuse.
According to him, it is absurd that CEZ should examine the consumers’ complaint by also acting as a referee. Although granting business and household consumers the right to address court in case of not reaching a deal with CEZ on the amount of possible compensation, the new contract does not foresee that independent ERE specialists can inspect and prove such cases.
The draft contract says CEZ has to examine every filed complaint within one month and inform customers on the reasons in case of not accepting their claims.
Under the newly drafted contract, CEZ is also obliged to respect power quality parameters which vary from +/-5% for Tirana, +/-10% for other urban areas and +10/-15% for rural areas.
The new contract comes after continuous complaints mostly by business but also household consumers over the poor quality of electricity offered by the electricity distribution operator, privatized by Czech Republic’s CEZ since March 2009,
A recent study carried out by Konfindustria covering the first 10 months of 2010 revealed the damage suffered by the industrial sector alone was more than 23 million euros until last October.
The Consumer Protection Commission says it is also working with the Water Regulatory Entity to draft a new drinking water contract which will also be ready by next February.
