Who else had has problems with their gas bills, it’s all been F#@%ed up, I pay my bills as soon as they arrive, this last bill came in February and the last date of payment for it was January 6th…so I’m now waiting for the next bill to see if it is sorted out or not. Its impossible for me to go to funchal to sort it out, and there have been reports of massive queues outside.
The merger of Gasinsular into Galp Madeira has created many constraints for Madeirans, but, according to DECO – Associação de Defesa do Consumidor, what happened was that the way in which consumption is counted and billed for it has generated recently reported problems. By the way, on page 6 of today’s print edition of DIÁRIO we report on further developments.
However, DECO issued a note today clarifying what has changed. “Consumers continue to receive their gas bill monthly, but meter readings are now carried out every two months”, he says.
Following “several requests for information from consumers due to billing problems that arose after Galp Madeira had sent a communication”, the DECO regional delegation questioned the company, thus recognizing that “there were some constraints as a result of of the merger of Gasinsular into Galp Madeira, which caused delays in the process of issuing gas bills”.
Furthermore, “the consumer who has received an invoice with high values, due to these constraints, can request an agreement to pay in installments, without any associated charge”, he guarantees. “Galp Madeira also communicated that the invoicing process has changed, from monthly to bimonthly”.
In this sense, “DECO asked the company for clarification, which explained that the invoice will continue to be sent monthly, changing the frequency of meter readings, which will be carried out every two months”, he reinforces.
The association recalls that “it is important to mention that the law provides that the bill must be monthly, unless otherwise agreed in the interest of the consumer. Regarding gas meter readings, it is foreseen that the interval between two readings must not exceed the two months”.
Thus, “we clarify that consumers will continue to receive their invoices monthly, although the actual meter readings are carried out by the company every two months, so there may be invoices based on estimated consumption”.
In this sense, it is also important to mention that the company urges its consumers to send their own readings on a monthly basis within a specified period of days. “We reinforce the importance of consumers communicating their readings, avoiding estimates and consequent invoices for hits”, also warns DECO.