Companies will have to offer Pix for consumers to pay their electricity bills

by

Resolution approved this Tuesday (24) obliges energy distributors to offer Pix as a means of paying invoices whenever consumers request this option.

Distributors can also make the QR Code available for payment via Pix regardless of the consumer’s request, which is already practiced by several energy concessionaires and permissionaires.

However, as many distributors still do not offer this modality or offer it with restrictions, Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) decided to regulate the matter to guarantee equal treatment to all consumers in the country, regardless of the management model adopted by its electricity distributor. energy. Pix’s offer as a means of payment happens today only by choice of the distributor.

The bar code, which allows the consumer to make the payment in the banking network and lottery outlets, remains the same on the invoice. The standard approved by Aneel also provides that if the distributor wants to replace the usual form of payment for Pix, there must be consumer consent.

Distributors will have 120 days to adapt to the new rule. Aneel hopes that the measure will serve to improve the consumer experience, avoiding problems arising from the delay in recognizing payments made by conventional means, such as the suspension of supply. With Pix, the distributor is able to write off its system in real time, as soon as payment is made.

According to Ricardo Tili, reporting director of the process, “Pix came to modernize the payment system in Brazil and the electricity sector could not be left out”.

“It is up to Aneel to demand that all distributors offer this option, which has the advantages of being instantaneous and of facilitating the operationalization by the companies”, he said.

In addition, the fees charged by banking institutions using the Pix QR code are lower than those for other means of payment, such as bar codes, which ends up bringing a reduction in the distributor’s operating cost of collection. This reduction may have an impact, but will not necessarily mean a tariff reduction in the next tariff review cycle.

“From a behavioral point of view, Pix humanizes the processes, as the power cut due to non-payment can be avoided by immediately proving that the invoice was paid via Pix. It is a regulation that makes me satisfied as a consumer and regulator, as it will further improve the experience of the final consumer”, said Sandoval Feitosa, general director of Aneel.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you