Proposed Consumer Care Obligations

Upcoming Open Closed Decision

View submissions Submissions closed 10 September 2024

Decision

We have decided that the two key protections – prohibiting retailers from disconnecting customers they know to be medically dependent for non-payment and requiring any fees or charges to be reasonable - will apply from 1 January 2025. The remaining obligations will take effect from 1 April 2025 to ensure retailers have the necessary operational changes in place to implement the new requirements for their customers.

Under the current voluntary Consumer Care Guidelines, retailers can either align by adopting the recommended actions, or by taking ‘alternative actions’ that achieve the intended purpose and outcomes. Under the new Obligations, alternative actions will no longer be available and retailers’ current self-reporting on alignment will be replaced with compliance reporting.

The Authority’s decision to introduce an implementation period for parts of the new Consumer Care Obligations reflects almost unanimous feedback that full compliance from 1 January 2025 may compromise customer outcomes, and that retailers’ self-reporting to-date indicates high levels of alignment with the current Consumer Care Guidelines.

The three-month implementation period will enable retailers to make any operational adjustments necessary to successfully implement the new requirements for their customers. In the interim, retailers will continue to align with the remaining Guidelines until all protections become obligatory from 1 April 2025.

Consultation

We would like to thank all those who engaged with this consultation - we are carefully considering your feedback.

This consultation sought feedback on a proposed amendment to the Electricity Industry Participation Code 2010. This amendment aims to mandate the Consumer Care Guidelines from 1 January 2025, ensuring that consumers receive the care and protection they need from their electricity retailer.

In this consultation, we proposed to rename the 'Consumer Care Guidelines' to ‘Consumer Care Obligations’ to reflect their proposed mandatory status. Additionally, we suggest introducing a new Part in the Code, Part 11A, to include the Consumer Care Obligations as a Schedule.

We also proposed operational improvements to provide retailers and distributors with clearer obligations on their consumer care responsibilities. These improvements are designed to make it easier for them to achieve the protections set out in the Consumer Care Obligations by improving practicality and providing more operational flexibility.

The proposed Code amendment will ensure:

enhanced protection for residential consumers, especially for medically dependent consumers or for those facing hardship
clear, practical, and enforceable obligations on retailers, improving transparency and accountability.

Consultation paper