Focus on everyday public services: nearly 1,400 consumer complaints received by the consumer protection authority in six months

The National Authority for Trade and Consumer Protection (NATCP) and the government offices under its professional supervision give priority to the supervision of public services – electricity, natural gas, water utilities and waste management services – as these affect almost the entire population and are an essential part of everyday life. As such, this area of consumer protection has been one of the authority's most important areas of investigation for many years. In the first six months of this year, a total of 1,383 consumer complaints were received by government offices, and an analysis of their content shows that most complaints were related to billing and accounting.

The audit conducted in the first half of 2025 was based on consumer complaints received by consumer protection authorities, which included both requests for information and requests for official proceedings to be initiated. The aim of the comprehensive investigation was to compare service provider practices, draw conclusions from them, and identify any difficulties and shortcomings in the application of the law.

In the first six months of this year, a total of 1,383 consumer submissions were received by government offices, of which 672 related to electricity, 292 to natural gas, 296 to water utilities, and 123 to waste management public services. Of these cases, 184 fell within the jurisdiction of other authorities and were forwarded to the competent bodies. As part of their efforts to raise consumer awareness, government agencies sent information letters to the parties concerned in nearly 800 cases, which shows that more than half (57%) of the complaints could be resolved in this way.

An examination of the content of the submissions shows that most complaints concerned problems related to billing and settlement. In relation to electricity supply, the most frequent causes of disputes were billing (104 cases), settlement (45 cases) and complaint handling (33 cases), but questions often arose in relation to meters, metering and meter reading. In the case of natural gas services, billing (70 cases) and settlement (51 cases) issues also dominated, while in the case of water utility services, in addition to billing, issues related to meters and meter reading (38 cases) and complaint handling (20 cases) also occurred in significant proportions. In relation to public waste management services, the majority of submissions concerned the fulfillment of service provision obligations (8 cases) and billing, but there were also complaints in the areas of payment arrears management and complaint handling.

The experience gained from the inspections clearly shows that the biggest challenges for consumers in the public service sector are issues related to billing, accounting, and administration, and that the quality and efficiency of complaint handling continues to require special attention. The processing of submissions and the summary prepared on the basis thereof provide the authority with a more accurate picture of the problems arising from service provider practices, thereby contributing to the more effective enforcement of consumer rights.

The National Authority for Trade and Consumer Protection and government offices will continue to conduct comprehensive investigations of this type in the future in order to continuously improve the reliability, quality, and transparency of public services that affect the daily lives of the population.