The expensive way to basic services

With gas prices skyrocketing, many Germans want to flee to basic services, which are often cheaper. With a lousy scam, some gas providers park consumers who are willing to change in a queue – and collect.

Going to the mailbox is now associated with a queasy feeling for many Germans. The next gas price increase can flutter into the house any day, putting even more strain on the already strained wallet. Many consumers therefore want to switch to the cheaper basic service – and suddenly end up in an expensive queue.

Gas provider change: Instead of the basic supply, consumers end up in the backup supply

Instead of letting consumers into the basic supply immediately, some local energy suppliers plug them in initially in the so-called replacement supply (Source: World).

It was the same with Sonja O. from Mettmann, who wanted to switch to the basic supply after a gas price increase to 26.6 cents per kilowatt hour. At 14.6 cents, that would only have cost around half. Yet only after three months, the energy supplier informed her, would she be allowed to receive basic services. In the meantime, Sonja O. had to go to the replacement supply and pay 42 cents per kilowatt hour there. “We were told that this is required by law,” writes the gas customer.

To the consumer advocates, on the other hand, clearly disagree. According to energy expert Holger Schneidewindt from the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia, every customer who terminates their contract because of a price increase or is terminated by the supplier can use the basic supply and does not have to use the backup supply. According to consumer advice centers, however, consumer complaints indicate that many suppliers handle this differently in practice.

Basic care and replacement care are different

Basic care and replacement care are not identical. the Replacement supply has a “catch-up function” and intervenes, for example, when a Provider goes bankrupt and can no longer supply its customers. There is no notice period here, consumers can switch to another provider at any time. “If they don’t do this, after the three-month replacement supply, they will be included in the basic supply,” according to the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

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Are consumers entitled to the basic service?

So the bottom line is the question: Are consumers who exercise their special right of termination in the event of a price increase entitled to the universal service? At least the consumer advocates agree.

But anyone who terminates their contract in the belief that they will automatically end up in basic care could be surprised and find themselves in replacement care. In any case, it is advisable to actively conclude a basic supply tariff with the local supplier. If there are problems after that, there is still the legal way or to seek help from the consumer advice center.