The company, the eighth with the most customers in Spain, came to pretend it was the usual business of a home to convince him of the rate change
Amid a maelstrom of energy prices, confusion with an increasingly complete bill and dozens of offers from electricity companies on the table, the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has fined several marketing companies of the Audax – group for alleged attempts to deceive customers into attracting them. According to the agency, it did this by misleading and confusing users with marketing practices that confused them, taking advantage of their lack of market knowledge so that they would accept its offers.
The CNMC accuses them of using “distortion of free competition due to unfair acts” prohibited by law. The Audax marketers (the group of companies that control 2% of the domestic free market, which is the eighth company in Spain by number of customers) “perpetrated deception and confusion to encourage customers who had their contracts with competing marketers to to be part of its portfolio» of domestic electricity and gas customers.
These practices took place from January 2018 to October 2021, according to the CNMC. On the latter date, electricity prices were already booming, following a summer in which electricity costs skyrocketed, following the confusion caused by the new periods of time limiting the use of light at night. and encouraging early in the morning, compared to the central hours of the day.
In April 2021, in view of the information collected as a result of various complaints filed with the CNMC, and the information provided by the Consumers and Users’ Organization (OCU), the CNMC initiated disciplinary proceedings for possible anti-competitive practices. Once instructed, the CNMC proved that the sanctioned Audax marketers cheated and confused to attract customers from other electricity and gas marketers through confusing strategies.
For example, they tried to attract customers by pretending to be their usual company; they were also notified of an alleged rate update or renewal, pretending to be their usual company; They offered so-called discounts on the rate, which would assure them that they would stay connected to their usual business; they were informed of an alleged mandatory change of marketer as a result of an alleged disappearance or name change of their usual business; or notified them of any alleged billing or distributor change.
Similarly, Competition recognizes that these unfair practices were carried out in a general way, affecting thousands of customers, including vulnerable consumers, effectively and significantly changing the behavior of demand in the markets for essential electricity marketing services and gas to domestic customers. .
The brands affected are Audax Renovables SA., Ads Energy 8.0, SLU, Ahorreluz Servicios Online, SL, BY Energyc Energía Eficiente, SL, Iris Energía Eficiente, SA and Masqluz 2020, SL Although they can appeal to the National Court solution.
Third Vice President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, on Monday accused electric utilities of certain behavior “not very fair or very ethically correct” in the context of the energy crisis. “They don’t play as neatly as they should in a situation like this. In our bill there is a lack of clarity about the explanation of how they count on what things,” Ribera warned in an interview.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
