AGCM

Services provided in the electricity and gas supply sectors in the absence of signed contracts or on the basis of contracts with signatures that were disowned by the purported signatories. Obstruction of the right to withdrawal and provision of false or misleading information

In a meeting on October 7^th, 2009, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) decided to penalize Sorgenia with two distinct fines totaling 350,000 euro for unfair commercial practices involving, in particular, unsolicited electricity supply activation and unsolicited natural gas supply activation. The investigation was launched in response to the lodging of numerous complaints through the Antitrust call center and ascertained the following specific types of practices:

activation of electricity and gas supply services in the absence of signed contracts or on the basis of contracts with signatures that were disowned by the purported signatories

Closer examination revealed that Sorgenia failed to set up adequate systems of check and control for the activities of their own agents even after consumers had complained of receiving invoices for unrequested services and, in some cases, disowned the signatures on the contracts. The complaints management system, which is still in use, was unable to prevent the billing of consumers for electricity or natural gas consumption that they had never requested

2) obstructing the exercise of the right of withdrawal

Documentation gathered by the Antitrust Authority revealed numerous occasions on which Sorgenia had requested payment for energy or gas supply services after customers had duly exercised their right of withdrawal. Even after customers had exercised their right of withdrawal, calls for payment continued to arrive for as long as several months.  

3) sales representatives utilizing false or misleading information

During efforts to solicit new users through 'door-to-door' sales promotion, Sorgenia's own sales representatives supplied prospective customers with false or misleading information, such as affiliation with the Enel group, economic benefits (such as refunds for the amount due to the previous supplier) of switching to Sorgenia and Sorgenia's takeover of ACEAElectrabel. The Antitrust Authority ascertained that the company failed to establish an effective and organized system for controlling the activities of its representatives despite full cognizance of their unfair conduct.

The Antitrust Authority views Sorgenia's commercial practices as particularly serious given the significant number of consumers involved (more for electricity than for natural gas) and the timing of their application, which occurred during a phase of market liberalization characterized by particularly stringent obligations regarding the completeness and transparency of information conveyed to consumers. Fines of 200,000 euro were imposed in regards to electricity provision and 150,000 euro in the natural gas sector.

Rome - October 24^th, 2009