If the problem of months and even years of delays with which Hidroelectrica customers received their bills seems to be on the way to a solution, now there are other errors reported by consumers. This is an incorrect index that appears on bills, even if people report their own consumption. Other customers complain that the invoice received by email is different from the invoice in the app.

Hidroelectrica’s customer was so surprised to receive his bill on time, already in the first month of the contract, that he wanted to show his joy to the company’s consumer group on Facebook.

“From November 30, 2023 to today, to my surprise, I changed my electricity supplier to Hidroelectrica. I received an email notification that I have been billed for the period 11/30 – 12/31/2023 with a PDF invoice attached. I was surprised because I read on the group that at first the bills came 6 months late, and in my case (I hope it’s not the only one) the bill came from the first month,” writes the consumer.

Hidroelectrica’s customers have so far experienced so many ups and downs in their relationship with the electricity supplier that this seems unusual.

“I switched to Hidroelectrica on December 16, and reading in the group about the problem with delays, I didn’t even dream of receiving bills too quickly. Yesterday, shock and horror: the bill for December arrived,” writes another.

Most say they are up to date with their bills and received their December 2023 bill last week, but there are exceptions.

People advise each other to submit petitions to ANRE and ANPK, “that this is the solution.”

Someone says he went to the company’s headquarters in Bucharest to get the invoices: “I solved it with the invoices. I followed them to Hydroelectric back home in Bucharest and he “released” them to me in 10 minutes, they were locked in the system, they said, some kind of Matrix, I think.”

Problems with the consumer-submitted index

In addition to problems with bills not arriving, consumers are reporting other errors.

One of the persistent problems is the energy consumption index in the bill, which is different from the one provided by consumers.

Here are some posts about it:

“In October I sent the index through the iHidro portal and it was taken into account for billing, but in November the index sent also through the iHidro portal does not appear in the account from the distributor, where the estimated index from the consumption contract appears, which is not real (transmitted)! Are there other clients in the same situation?”.

“Hello everyone. In the December bill HE did not include the remote reading provided by the dealer or the index I sent. I do not understand this estimate they made on behalf of the distributor.”

“Since the beginning of the contract with them, in September 2022, I have not found the index I sent in any account. I asked for details over the phone, but the call center did not know how to give me a specific answer. I was told that they had been billed based on my estimate since I signed the contract, but they didn’t know when they would be settled. Anyway, this month it’s been a year since I got my new bill, I’m still waiting.’

“Even though I send a monthly index, I’m billed for 300kWh and I use a maximum of 50kWh per month. I have notified them monthly via email with a photo of the meter to back up what I am saying. I get the answer that they are not to blame, they take as a basis the indicators transmitted by the distributor. In the new hydro application, if I want to transfer an index that is lower than the existing one, it is not possible.”

Another consumer says the app shows him that he has to pay a different amount than the bill he received in the mail: “I don’t know if this is even true, but for me the bill in the mail has nothing to do with what the app shows me that I have to pay even though I find the same invoice in the attachment as the one that was sent by email. Does this only happen to me? Thank you”.

Hidroelectrica had 530,850 residential customers as of the end of September 2023, up from 256,539 a year earlier, according to the company’s latest financial report.

With a share of 16%, the company is the leader in the energy supply market.

ANRE fined Hidroelectrica 400,000 lei last year and 365,000 lei in 2022

Consumers did not forgive the company and filed numerous complaints with NARE.

This is what ANRE reported in March 2023:

“In the context of numerous reports and complaints received regarding the commercial behavior of the electricity supplier SPEEH Hidroelectrica SA, at the beginning of the year we ordered a large-scale control action at the supplier in question.

According to the results of the control measure, violations were detected in the supplier’s activities, which consist of:

• failure to provide invoices for the amount of electricity supplied to 482,638 end consumers in the portfolio for each accounting period and within the terms provided for in the electricity supply contracts concluded with them;
• non-delivery or delay in delivery of responses to customer requests;
• failure to conclude or non-compliance with the deadline for concluding an electrical energy supply contract after acceptance of the terms of supply and submission of the necessary documentation by the customer.

For the discovered facts, the electricity supplier SPEEH Hidroelectrica SA was punished for the violation with a maximum fine of 400,000 lei, which is twice the maximum amount provided by law.

And during 2022, ANRE constantly monitored the activities of SPEEH Hidroelectrica SA, for similar actions, 71 illegal sanctions were imposed on the supplier in the amount of 365,000 lei.”

ANRE has not reported any other fines since March, but the institution’s president, George Niculescu, said late last year that more than 170 inspections were ongoing market-wide.

Read also:

• Advantages and disadvantages of the contract with Hidroelectrica / What is the experience of customers of the energy supplier?
• Hidroelectrica mixed up the numbers and sent out false offers to residential consumers