In the summer of 2024 the government launched a full -fledged offensive to put a preserve to the abusive use of commercial calls by companies. What did not take into account, within the scope of the energy sector, is that that was going … to assume a lock for free competition between companies.
On the one hand, the Ministry for digital transformationcovered by the Telecommunications Law, launched a measures plan to combat the identity supplant scams that are committed through telephone calls. It seeks to prohibit mobile numbering for commercial calls, so that people can detect that it is fraud if they receive a call from such number. But it was not the only measure.
The rotation of customers in the energy field – Luz and Gas – has become a reality. Users are no longer afraid to change company, and that has caused a drag effect for all companies, both for collection and retention calls. Since the last energy crisis, companies that sell electricity and gas have also been paid to these practices that have been used a lot among telephone operators. Therefore, the Government has taken advantage of the development of a new rule to fence this situation. Specifically, the Ministry for Ecological Transition It is preparing a Royal Decree to approve the General Supply and Contracting Regulations for which the conditions for marketing, aggregation and consumer protection of electricity are established.
From now on, according to the law, “the marketer may not advertise or contract practices not requested by the user by telephone, unless there is an express request by the consumer or the call is caused by its own initiative.” In addition, it is clarified that “in these cases, the marketer must record the call, regardless of who originates it, including all the information provided to the consumer and contractual information.” The situation, which can be a relief for consumers who receive dozens of calls per month, has a negative counterpart for companies in the electricity sector and, in reality, also for users.
This was stated a few days ago by the president of the Independent Marketing Association (Acie), Víctor Hernández, during the annual forum that the organization celebrates. He maintains that the total prohibition of commercial calls can reduce competition among all companies in the sector – and that leads to a price increase.
From the association, which represents companies such as TOTALENERGIES, Plenitude, Phenyte energy, Octopus either FactorenergyThey ask that the activity of commercial calls be regulated, but that it is not completely prohibited, something that would leave them in a competitive position of inequality with respect to large electricity.
As ABC has been able to know in sources in the sector, this drastic solution of not allowing any type of commercial call comes to the impossibility that the regulator can pursue fraudulent contacts, or that the mass telephone ‘spam’ can be denounced. Therefore, from Acie what they ask is to develop guides of good practices or develop more demanding measures, but that calls are allowed.
For many electric, especially those of smaller size, This type of action is essential for the collection of new clients. It also allows them to have a commercial approach that otherwise could not be allowed for economic reasons.
Return to competition
This situation occurs, precisely, when independent marketers have once again managed to deal with large electricity companies. Thus, according to the official data reported by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), in the third quarter of 2024 Endesa had a loss of users in the electrical segment (free market) compared to the closure of mid -year. Iberdrola also left customers along the way, although few; and Naturgy He also suffered a considerable decrease. On the opposite side they are located Octopus, Factornergy, Moremobile either Phenyte energy that last year they returned to the path of growth.
The recovery of land by independent marketers is due, to a large extent, by the normalization of the energy market after the price crisis lived with the Ukraine War.
These companies, which buy electricity in the wholesale market, and then sell it to their customers, were affected by high costs. Once everything has returned to relative normality can compete more efficiently against large companies.
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