Regardless how many bills they have not paid, all consumers who have debts to EPCG have been sued. Thus EPCG protects its claims against the statute of limitations.
“EPCG decides to use unpopular measure of disconnection of consumers’ electricity only as a last resort after it fails to collect a debt through all other mechanisms at its disposal. EPCG is obliged by law to take all measures to collect each of its claims, which is its basic principle of running their business. Any other practice would be contrary to the interests of EPCG and regular payers,” EPCG’s Public Relations Directorate explained.
EPCG disconnects debtors’ electricity on a daily basis. The number of consumers whose electricity is disconnected varies depending on disconnections, repaying debts and reconnection.
As the company stated, failing to collect the debts will eventually destabilise the electro-energy system, which is in nobody’s interest.
However, stability of the system is the last thing consumers think about when EPCG’s crews appear on their doorstep. Warnings and awards for regular payers do not mean a lot to families who barely make ends meet, because they cannot afford paying their liabilities due to the struggle for survival.
Therefore incidents occur in the field. Citizens try to prevent EPCG’s crews to do their job in different ways. Physical confrontations are often.
Some of consumers who are able to pay their electricity bills avoid doing that and sign protocols on paying in instalments at the last moment. According to the protocols, consumers are obliged to pay 30% debt immediately and the rest in instalments together with new bills.
“In September and October, the campaign ‘Let’s share the burden’ was launched for the third time. Within the campaign as many as 16,672 households signed the protocols to repay their debt at very favourable terms, which include debt repayment in 25 €20 monthly instalments, without default interest and possibility of electricity disconnection as long as the consumer obliges the protocol,” the company’s PR Directorate stated.
“Let’s be driven by good energy” and other stimuli
Campaigns to stimulate debt repayment in instalments will also be organised during 2016.
At the end of November, about 45% of households in Montenegro received electricity bills with 5% discount (63,000 households) or 10% discount (93,000 households, members of “Golden Team”) calculated.
In order to reward those who pay their liabilities regularly, EPCG has organises sweepstakes “Let’s be driven by good energy” for the third time.
“The prize fund amounts to about €30,000 and it includes: five €200 coupons for purchasing in ‘Roda’ retail chain, two seven-day holidays in Vucje, a five-day holiday in Barcelona, two iPhone6 devices and the main prize – a ‘ford mondeo’ car. All consumers who paid their electricity debts off by 31 December participate in the sweepstakes by default. The public drawing of winners will be organised in TVCG studio on 19 January at 11AM and aired on 20 January in RTCG’s morning programme”, it was said in the statement.
This is just the first in a series of three sweepstakes that EPCG plans to organise during 2016.
Within the second stage, which will start immediately after the first one, four ‘ford focus’ cars will be awarded to consumers during four two-month rounds.
“All consumers who pay all their electricity debts off by the end of the month prior to award drawing participate in the sweepstakes by default. The third stage will be organised in December 2016 when another ‘ford mondeo’ car will be awarded, as well as many other awards. All members of the ‘Golden Team’, i.e. all consumers who would regularly pay their bills from December 2015 until November 2016 participate in that stage”, the company stated.
EPCG reminded that this was the third sweepstakes organised to reward all consumers who pay their bills regularly, primarily members of the “Golden Team”.
They invited consumers to take advantage of the opportunity and join those who regularly pay their electricity bills, adding that the company plans to launch new loyalty programmes that will bring additional benefits to regular payers.
