ELECTRICITY

Non-professional ≤ 36 kVA

Free cancellation at no cost to the supplier

Professional ≤ 36 kVA For variable-price contracts (rather than

“f ixed” contracts) and small businesses (<

50 employees turnover or balance sheet <

€10 M): free cancellation at no cost to the

supplier¹.

For f ixed-price contracts or medium-sized

companies (≥ 50 employees or turnover

or balance sheet ≥ €10 M): no right of

cancellation, except under a cancellation

clause (with or without fees payable to the

supplier).

Non-professional and professional > 36 kVA Free cancellation,

with any fees payable to the supplier

GAS

Non-professional < 30,000 kWh/year

Free cancellation at no cost to the supplier

Non-professional > 30,000 kWh/year

Professional

No right of cancellation, except under a

cancellation clause (with or without fees

payable to the supplier)

As a reminder, the Mediation service has proposed using this

table which lists the cancellation fees by type of customer.

1 The supplier may only invoice the consumer for costs actually incurred by the supplier via the network operator in relation to the cancellation

provided that these costs are explicitly stated in the offer

Recommendations for the Business Customers

Division (DCP) and the BtoB market

ediation and liability of the parties:

a question of commitment

CONSUMER

OMBUDSMAN FOR

THE ENGIE GROUP

JeanPierre

HERVÉ

The Law (Article L. 612-1 of the French

Consumer Code) stipulates that “the profes-

sional shall guarantee the consumer effective

recourse to a consumer mediation scheme.” In

other words, they must of fer their customers

“the right to have recourse free of charge to a

consumer mediator with a view to the amica-

ble resolution of a dispute between him and a

professional,” (Article L. 612-1 of the French

Consumer Code:

To this end, professionals are required either

to set up their own consumer mediation

scheme, like ENGIE, or to join a sector-spe-

cif ic mediation scheme.

However, when resorting to mediation as a

means of resolving a dispute, professionals

have few legislative or regulatory obligations

in the strict sense of the term.

Participation in a specif ic mediation pro-

cess constitutes an act of responsibility

for the professional, as opposed to an

obligation. According to Article R. 612-2 of

the French Consumer Code, the parties may

withdraw from the process at any time.

According to the Law (Article L. 611-1 of the

French Consumer Code), “mediation (…) is

defined as any structured process, regard-

less of its name whereby two or more parties

attempt to reach an agreement to settle their

dispute amicably with the assistance of a

third party the mediator chosen by them or

appointed, with their agreement, by the court

hearing the dispute.”

In the spirit of the Law, a professional who

enters into mediation cannot therefore,

in theory, remain passive and simply stick

stubbornly to the position they may have

taken, particularly when responding to the

customer’s prior complaint.

Certainly, the professional can legitimately

consider their position well-founded and

maintain this stance.

Even if the professional is clearly wrong on

the merits of the dispute, they are under no

obligation to try and reach an agreement or

settlement. Only a judge can possibly force

them to take action or make a payment, dur-

ing legal proceedings.

A professional wishing to assume their

responsibilities should withdraw from the

mediation process rather than waiting for

the mediator to terminate it, after having

proposed a solution and having noted that

the professional concerned has not agreed

to it.

As a committed Ombudsman, I would

therefore like to remind the various parties

involved in a dispute of the ethos of Media-

tion above and beyond the legislation and

particularly the entities of the ENGIE Group

which claim to embody the values of corpo

rate social responsibility CSR

View the summary

of our 2024

recommendations

32 33