Both a danger to public safety and an energy fraud is what illegal connections are considered to be. We explain what you would like to try and do must you discover one.
The unlawful alteration of the electrical installation and the electricity transport grid under the motive to pay less (or simply not pay) for the energy consumed is what an illegal electricity connection is.
This practice has negative effects on the bills of other consumers and on the aggregation of the State. It promotes unfair competition and puts the protection of all neighbors in danger. It poses a big danger to both the operators engaged in the installations and to any or all the residents of the residential block. The probabilities of fireside and electrical overloads are increased, which might cause serious damage to household appliances or the complete electrical system.
Under article 255 of the Criminal Code, illegal connections are considered an offense. Should there be the slightest suspicion that there’s an illegal connection, it should be reported.
How to detect an illegal electricity connection?
The alarm bells burst off when there’s something suspicious on the electricity bill, like an outbreak. Why is that? Should we predict the worst? the foremost poorly done illegal connections are easily visible, but nowadays there are “experts” who may have manipulated the meter and it’s not evident. As this can be easily checked, is best to form sure.
The best way to learn if someone is stealing electricity is to concentrate on the consumption as it is most typical for an illegal connection to be done from the meter room. If there’s something unusual on the bill, you’ll ask your electricity company why this can be. You’ll also do your own checks, within which case the subsequent step is to travel to the meter room and follow these steps:
- Write down the precise reading on the meter.
- Turn the facility off at the mains of your home or business to eliminate any sort of electricity consumption.
- Allow a prudent amount of your time to pass and check the meter again. If there’s nothing unusual on the grid, then the reading should be precisely the same because the one you wrote down.
- If the consumption has increased, it’s quite likely that somebody in your block is committing electricity fraud with an illegal connection.
In this case, report it as soon as possible in order that the experts can make certain everything is so as and whether there’s an illegal electricity connection or not. You’ll be able to contact the authorities or, better still, the distribution company.
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Who does one report an illegal electricity connection to?
Contact the distribution company in your area if there are signs of an alleged electricity fraud. This will be reported anonymously.
What data is required to file a report? it’s necessary to send all information possible about the supplier, especially its location, that the company may identify the matter and review the installation. The placement is going to be by the precise postal address, or by the CUPS (Universal Supply Point Code) if known. If the report is shipped by web form, it’ll be necessary to finish the sections ‘situation found’ and ‘comments’.
If you would like, you’ll leave contact details (name, surnames, email, and telephone number) which can after all be treated confidentially. Within the case that you simply have taken a photograph using your itinerant otherwise, you have another document which will help, you’ll learn the choice to connect these files on the shape.
What is the penalty for an illegal collection?
The penalty is high and no joke for the crime of electricity fraud via an illegal connection. It should be punished by months in prison and also the fine can vary between 1,000 and 2,000 euros if the fraud exceeds the worth of 400 euros. If it’s out of the question to understand the figure defrauded, the law states that the number to be billed is going to be 100% of the wattage contracted for six hours each day within the last year.
In addition to this, within the case of electricity fraud, it’s normal for the electricity supplier to disconnect the electricity at this supply point. During this case, there’ll be a charge for reconnecting the service. Clearly, it is not worthy to try and save on power consumption by electricity fraud. There are legal alternative ways to do so like the ones you can learn from the Easy Power Plan. Read the Easy Power Plan Review for more information.