Complaint to an electricity or gas supplier or network operator (Austria)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A complaint letter to your electricity or gas supplier, or to the network operator, in Austria — about a wrong annual bill, instalments set too high, a meter reading, a switch of supplier or a threatened disconnection. With your customer number, metering point number and supply address, the problem, the remedy you want and a deadline for the answer. Complaining to the company first is what opens the free conciliation at E-Control, Austria's energy regulator (§ 26 E-ControlG). Under Austria's new Electricity Act (ElWG) and Gas Act (GWG 2011). In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Customer
- Customer's address
- Electricity or gas company (supplier or network operator)
- Postal address of the electricity or gas company
- City
- Date
- Client number
- Metering point number (shown on the bill)
- Electricity or natural gas
- The company's role (supplier or network operator)
- Supply address (where the energy is used)
- What the complaint is about
- Remedy requested
- Deadline for a response
- Attachments
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- In Austria, does an electricity or gas complaint go to the supplier or to the network operator?
- It depends on the subject. The supplier answers for the energy price, instalments, the contract and switching supplier; the network operator for the meter, readings, network charges, connection and disconnection. Both are named on your bill, with the metering point number. If in doubt, send the complaint to the supplier and a copy to the network operator. District heating is not covered here, and water is a municipal charge.
- What happens in Austria if the energy company does not respond to a complaint?
- You can then turn to E-Control's conciliation body (§ 26 E-ControlG). The procedure is free; electricity and gas companies must take part and give information, and E-Control aims at a solution within six weeks. It requires that you complained to the company first. So keep a copy of this letter and the posting slip of the registered letter.
- Must a disputed electricity or gas bill in Austria be paid while a complaint is open?
- Once conciliation is pending at E-Control, the disputed amount of the bill is not due until it ends; an amount equal to the average of the last three bills may still be demanded at once (§ 26 E-ControlG). Until then, the safest course is to pay the undisputed part on time, so that neither reminder fees nor a disconnection follow, and to state the disputed part in the complaint.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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