The AER has today published its final Guidance on AER Approval of Customer Hardship Policies (Guidance).
Under the new National Energy Retail Law, energy retailers will be required to have AER approved customer hardship policies. Hardship policies aim to assist customers experiencing payment difficulties due to hardship to better manage their energy bills on an ongoing basis.
The Guidance outlines what information retailers should include in their customer hardship policies when submitting those policies to the AER for approval. The Guidance also sets out the factors the AER may consider in deciding whether or not to approve a retailer’s customer hardship policy.
The Guidance will assist retailers to demonstrate that their policy satisfies the minimum requirements and obligations specified in the Retail Law and Rules.
Under the Retail Law, new entrant retailers will be required to submit their hardship policies to the AER for approval within three months of being granted an authorisation to sell electricity and gas.
Those existing energy retailers who will be transitioned to authorised retailers under the Retail Law, will be required to have an AER approved customer hardship policy in place for commencement of the Retail Law on 1 July 2012. To ensure this requirement is met, retailers will be required to submit their customer hardship policy to the AER for approval by 1 December 2011. The AER intends to commence detailed discussions with retailers on the submission and approval of their customer hardship policies from September.
The Guidance takes into account issues raised in stakeholder submissions on the draft Guidance published in December 2010. The letter, published alongside the Guidance, sets out the main issues raised in these submissions and the AER’s consideration of those issues.