Iberdrola to make amends
By Tom Cain
ELECTRICITY supplier Iberdrola has said it is to begin making corrections to around 105,000 bills that have been estimated incorrectly.
The company say over or under calculations of between one and 10 euros would be adjusted.
Company president, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, said Iberdrola had no interest in overcharging customers and that small differences found on some bills would be adjusted next month.
He added that if a mistake has been made it will be corrected.
Sr Galán also said that out the company’s 10 million customers, 105, 000 complaints had been made, which he said was a very small percentage.
Of the 7.6 million bills issued under the new system, 2.7 have been rechecked and of those 105,000 were incorrect.
CONTROVERSY
Iberdrola’s decision to change its billing system from bi-monthly to monthly has sparked a deluge of complaints to consumer offices on the Costa Blanca.
The company said that new regulations issued by the ministry of industry, obliged it to start monthly billing affecting more than 10 million of its clients across Spain.
Under the new system, usage is measured every two months by way of a true meter reading and an estimated one. This process is repeated every third month.
But as soon as the first of the monthly bills started arriving towards the end of January, complaints started coming in.
Many complained the bill was excessive and difficult to understand and that Iberdrola was charging people using a combination of old and new tariffs.
Others were charged very little on their monthly bills and they fear Iberdrola will hit them with extra charges when their next bill is due.
In some places such as Elche the number of complaints went through the roof with as many as 100 people per day wanting explanations.
The Valencia regional government has opened a file on electricity suppliers over presumed irregularities in the billing system.
tcain@cbews.es
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