John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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243. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason a charge of 50 cent is imposed on the top-up for gas and electricity meters; the body that benefits from this charge; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30577/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and the natural gas markets is a matter for the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) which is an independent statutory body.

  Pay As You Go meters were introduced in 2011 and are offered free of charge to energy consumers experiencing financial difficulty.  I understand that the CER views Pay As You Go meters as contributing significantly to the decrease in disconnections of electricity and gas customers in that period.

I believe that in light of the assistance that Pay As You Go metering is providing to households under financial pressure, it is critical that these households do not incur any additional charges for availing of these meters. However, I am aware that some retailers are charging surcharges to top-up payments for Pay As You Go meters for electricity and I deplore this practice.

Officials in my Department have previously met with the providers of these systems, retail representative groups and a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), particularly the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) specifically on this topic.

Payment providers have assured my officials that the practice of surcharging is explicitly forbidden in the contract retailers must sign on accepting a payment terminal. Additionally, they advise that the level of customer complaints they receive is low but that they are working with energy suppliers to investigate and address persistent problems. They are also working to mitigate the problem through proactive support of those retailers who aren’t engaging in the practice. They do this through the provision of promotional material that can encourage customers to use retailers who do not apply surcharges and in the case of repeat offenders, payment providers have the ability to withdraw a payment terminal.

The CER continues to monitor this matter and has engaged with energy suppliers and payment providers to address this. The CER has written to suppliers to remind them of their obligations to prevent this practice. My officials have requested that the aforementioned NGO's keep the Department appraised of any growth in the practice of surcharging with a view to monitoring the need for further engagement with the industry.