The number of unpaid bills has doubled during the past year, after the Government issued an emergency ordinance according to which no energy consumer can be disconnected from the grid during the state of emergency, said on Tuesday Ion Lungu, president of the Association of Energy Suppliers of Romania (AFEER), in a press conference.

“It’s basically an invitation for people not to pay. We expect it to be solved. A rescheduling can be done, but this is not the best solution, because those who have abused this provision are people who are still eager not to pay,” he said, according to Agerpres.

Currently, the number of consumption places in the situation of being disconnected for non-payment exceeded 173,000, double as compared to last year in the same period, when in this situation there were 86,400 consumption places.

“We had a meeting last week at the Ministry of Energy to solve this problem, with Mr. Secretary of State George Niculescu. He promised us that it will be discussed. A solution would be to apply the measure only for those who really need it, to create a fund to support a very short rescheduling, of 3-6 months,” the AFEER representative also said.

In other countries that have had similar measures, special funds have been set up, with European money earmarked for anti-Covid measures.

“Energy suppliers have no social protection responsibilities,” AFEER officials said.