Enel is the first energy company to offer a conciliation service to its more than 30 million residential customers with regard to the electricity and gas supply in both the free market and the most protected bracket. By doing so, Enel provides a quick and free alternative to ordinary court procedures for the solution of contract-related disputes. Thanks to investments by AEEG in consumer associations, this instrument is increasingly being used in Italy. These developments were discussed at the Third National Workshop on Joint Conciliation with Enel and Consumer Associations, held on April 6 at the Auditorium in Rome. More than 200 people attended, of whom 160 territorial representatives of the 17 consumer associations that signed the memorandum of understanding on conciliation in 2006.
The proceedings were declared open by Simone Mori, Enel’s Director of Regulations and the Environment, who mentioned the preparatory steps leading to the Joint Conciliation online and the “innovative path” chosen by our company and the associations to outline “an experience that could be exported to other European countries.” President of the Electricity and Gas Authority (AEEG) Guido Bortoni, who took the floor right after, spoke of customer protection and conciliation, pointing out that “We are walking in the right direction, but we need to make a further unified effort.” Bortoni invited Enel, the associations and the AEEG that he himself manages, to take a further step forward, in order to make procedures more “transparent, informative, simple, and effective.”
Marina Migliorato, Head of CSR and Relations with Associations, began the debate by inviting the audience to “share the reasons of pride” for a conciliation procedure that represents an example of a business system that actually works.” Without avoiding criticism and ignoring the need for improvement, she invited associations to continue getting involved and thanked them, especially for “the critical approach during these years, which gave us the opportunity to grow.” Head of Customer Service for the Market Division Luca Solfaroli Camillocci spoke about growth as well, while pointing out that Enel has made remarkable “efforts with processes, organization, and investments, to respond to what our more than 32 million customers expect from us.” Solfaroli also mentioned that, between 2009 and 2010, customer satisfaction has increased, whereas the complaint rate has dropped.
THE EXAMPLE OF THE TELECOM COMPANIES
The project was born in 2004 and became a reality two years later, with the signing of the conciliation protocol and implementation regulation by Enel’s CEO Fulvio Conti and top managers from all the consumer associations represented in the CNCU (National Council of Consumers and Users, created in 1998 and attached to the Ministry of Economic Development).
This experience has been borrowed from the telecom sector: some ten years ago, consumer associations began pursuing this alternative to common justice for solving their claims and disputes with major companies. Given the extremely positive results obtained, they decided to push for the use of conciliation in other markets – such as the energy one – at a particularly delicate moment due to the complete and final deregulation of the sector.
Since July 2009, when conciliation became operational for all customers including those from the deregulated market, more than 1,500 customers have benefited from this opportunity and relied on consumer associations. The procedure is online and can easily be accessed by all consumer associations, via a software platform on Enel’s Website.
From Enel Together
Issue 3 |Year VIII. April 2011
