Romania’s energy regulator has fined four energy companies 800,000 lei (about 160,000 euros) for overcharging a number of customers in November.
The National Energy Regulations Agency, ANRE, said Enel Energie and Enel Energie Muntenia were fined 200,000 lei each on Monday for failing to grant subsidies to customers in November under the terms of an energy cap implemented last year.
The regulator also ordered the companies to rectify the bills for that month.
It said it was continuing to carry out checks on other companies. “The conclusions and any sanctions will be made public,” a statement said.
On Friday, the regulator said it had fined the Electrica Supplies and Gaz Vest 200,000 lei each for overcharging customers on their energy bills.
It advised customers to check bills, and to check notifications from energy companies about price changes.
The regulator advised customers to contact their suppliers if they had queries about their bills and ask for clarification. If they failed to get satisfactory answer, they could take their complaints to the regulator or to court.
President Klaus Iohannis endorsed a bill in October introducing a cap on gas and energy prices and energy subsidies for households until April 1.
Prices were capped at 1 leu per kWh of electricity and at 0.37 lei per kWh of natural gas, according to the bill.
Households which consume up to 350 kWh of electricity or up to 200 cubic meters of gas per month are be entitled to subsidies, according to the new legislation.
They will receive 0.291 lei per kWh of electricity consumed. The state will also cover up to 33% of the total value of the households’ gas bills.
