Energy and service billing complaints: how to do it?

Quick summary: If you disagree with your utility bill, you can file a written objection within 30 days of receiving your bill. The provider has an additional 30 days to deal with them. For electricity and gas, complaints are made directly to the supplier, who must deal with them under the Energy Act. Delays may give rise to a contractual penalty. Heat billing must respect the legal limits for deviations (-30% to +100% compared to the average house).

If you are not sure whether your bill complies with the law, you can send it to us for checking.

Service bills

Most housing-related services are paid for in advance and are usually billed once a year. The entity that provides the services, i.e. the unit owners’ association or cooperative, must deliver the bill to the recipient of the services, i.e. the owner of the flat, the member of the cooperative (or the tenant), no later than four months after the end of the billing period.

Measurement and billing of heat

If you have individual heating in your flat (for example, using a gas boiler), then the following lines apply to you only to a very limited extent, relating only to the common areas of the building.

The legal framework for heat metering and billing is set out in the Act regulating certain issues related to the provision of benefits associated with the use of flats and non-residential premises and the related Decree of the Ministry of Regional Development.

If there is no obligation to install specified meters in a particular house, then the costs are allocated on the basis of the service provider’s agreement with all service users in the house.

If the installation of meters is mandatory, the heating costs are divided into a basic and a consumption component. Under the basic component, we de facto pay for the ‘heating option’, i.e. the fact that the heating system in the house is installed and has to be maintained and managed in some way. We are connected to it and can use it at any time. The amount of the basic component varies between 40% and 60% of the total heating price, depending on the decision of the HOA or cooperative. The ratio of the size of the chargeable floor area of the flat to the total chargeable floor area of the flats and non-residential premises in the billing unit is calculated.

The second part, the consumption component, is then based on the meter readings, in other words, on how you actually heat the apartment and how this consumption is reflected in the meters. So if you get thermostatic heads, set your heating temperatures low and don’t mind wearing a jumper in your flat over the winter, you can save a significant amount on this component. However, even here, the values found are usually adjusted using various calculation methods and coefficients that take into account the different heating requirements of individual rooms in the dwelling units according to their location (e.g. above an unheated cellar, under a roof) and to the cardinal directions (e.g. north).

However, the differences in heating costs per 1 m2 of billable floor area shall not exceed a value 30 % lower and 100 % higher than the average of the billing unit in the billing period for final consumers with metering or indication in the billing unit.

The split between the basic and the consumption component shall correspond to the legal range of 40 to 60 % of the basic component; the specific amount shall be determined by the service provider according to the Decree and the energy performance of the building.

All new meters in residential buildings (i.e. hot water meters, calorimeters or devices registering thermal energy as heating cost indicators on radiators or temperature sensors) are subject to the condition that they must comply with the conditions of remote reading with a possible monthly frequency of readings from January 2022. So if your meters only allow annual readings and you are planning to replace them, you should bear these new requirements in mind.

The most common errors are incorrect application of correction factors or exceeding the legal limits for deviations. These errors are quite common when checking bills.

Water and sewerage charges

If you can drink water from the tap in your home, you will be liable for water charges and, along with that, sewerage charges. However, the drinking water charge is not just the price of the water you use, but also includes a fixed component that you have to pay based on the fact that you are connected to the mains water supply. The variable component is most often measured by a so-called sub-meter. If there are no water meters installed in individual flats, then payments are budgeted according to the Decree. This is based on the so-called guideline figures for annual water demand per inhabitant.

In contrast, sewerage charges are paid for the removal, treatment or other disposal of waste water.

Hot water

The costs in a house for the supply of hot water are also made up of several components. The basic one, 30 %, is subdivided according to the floor area of the dwelling and is always paid by individual dwellings, regardless of whether they have used hot water. So even if you haven’t showered or washed dishes for a year, you will still pay the appropriate proportion for hot water depending on the size of your flat.

The other part, which is 70%, is then allocated according to the readings of the hot water meters installed.

Objections to billing

If you are not satisfied with your prepayment bill, you have the right to ask for billing information, such as the cost of specific services and an explanation of how it was calculated. You also have the right to get copies of the billing documents. If you are not satisfied with the billing, you can make a complaint (objection) within 30 days of receiving the billing and the service provider must be given 30 days from the receipt of the objection to deal with it.

If there is a delay in billing or dealing with objections, you have the right to claim a penalty from the service provider. The penalty may be a maximum of CZK 50 per day of delay and cannot exceed the total annual bill for the service. You lose this right if the service provider itself received the documents late and was thus unable to fulfil its legal obligation.

If the service provider does not respond to your objections or rejects them without explanation, we recommend that you take legal action to resolve the situation – often a pre-action notice alone will lead to a remedy.

Pre-complaint checklist:

• Check the date of receipt of the bill.

• Compare the readings with the actual meter reading.

• Request supporting documentation for the billing.

• Submit objections in writing within 30 days.

• Retain proof of mailing.

Electricity and gas billing

Gas and electricity supplies are governed to some extent by law, but it is also very important what you have specifically signed in your contract with the supplier and what their terms and conditions say. You can also always find more information on the supplier’s website.

There are usually several ways of dealing witha complaint – by phone, email or in writing. It is always a good idea to choose a method that gives us proof of the date of submission and its content – at least the supplier’s email or web interface. A telephone submission is not sufficient in this respect.

The supplier must deal with the gas or electricity billing complaint within 15 days of receipt. If it considers it justified, it must compensate you for the difference in payments within 30 calendar days of receiving the complaint.

If the supplier rejects the complaint and you disagree, you can contact the Energy Regulator. However, this does not relieve you of the obligation to pay any outstanding service charges (if the ERO later agrees, anything that was wrongly billed will be refunded to you).

In practice, we often encounter incorrectly charged distribution charges or incorrectly transcribed readings. If you are unsure of the correctness of the calculation, it is worthwhile to have a professional check before paying the disputed amount.

At the same time, we have encountered a problem where a service recipient has raised objections verbally or by telephone, which could not be substantiated later. We therefore recommend that you always submit objections in writing and keep proof of delivery.

Summary

Complaining about energy and service bills is an important right for every consumer. If you disagree with your electricity, gas, water or heating bill, you have the right to make a complaint within 30 days of receiving the bill and the service provider must deal with it within 30 days. In the event of a dispute, you can contact the Energy Regulator or the competent court. It is also important to be aware of the rules on heat and water billing, which are governed by legal decrees. Filing a timely objection and checking the billing thoroughly can save you considerable financial costs.