For the enactment of CREG Resolution 059, the CREG considered Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020. Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020 provides for the possibility of CREG to adopt special temporary schemes to defer the payment of invoices issued. In addition, it authorizes CREG to adopt all measures it deems necessary to mitigate the effects of the State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency on users and agents in the gas chain.
In this context, Resolution CREG 059 establishes transitional rules related to the payment of the value of the invoice for the gas utility in application of the provisions of Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020. The regulation mainly establishes the following transitional measures:
First, it establishes that the following values will be subject to deferred payment:
(i) For strata 1 and 2, the value associated with the consumption of the invoiced period and the commercialization charge that exceeds the basic or subsistence consumption.
(ii) For strata 3 and 4, the total value associated with consumption and commercialization charge.
It should be mentioned that the application of this deferred payment applies for the billing periods April and May, and that it is mandatory for commercialization agents in respect with strata 1 to 4, although these users may choose between accepting the deferred payment or continuing to pay the invoice in accordance with the uniform terms contracts. For regulated users, before discontinuing service for non-payment, the commercialization agent must offer to the user payment agreements by installments.
Second, with respect to the publicity of these measures, both on the invoice and by any wide diffusion method, the user should be informed of the following: (i) initiation date for the payment of the installment of what was deferred along with the financial cost, (ii) the interest rate, (iii) the value of each installment of the deferred value, and (iv) other conditions related to the deferred payment.
Third, for the implementation of these measures, commercialization agents should offer users the following payment periods:
(i) For residential users in strata 1 and 2 the payment period shall be 36 months.
(ii) For residential users in strata 3 and 4 the payment period shall be 24 months.
(iii) For other regulated users, it is free for the commercialization agent to determine the period of deferment.