Compliance and Enforcement Annual Report 2022

The Compliance and Enforcement Annual Report for 2022 can be found here.

• Compliance monitoring, through audits and investigations, is an important regulatory tool to protect customers rights.
• Ten investigations conducted in 2022, including two concerning Uisce Éireann and eight on licensed generators and energy suppliers.
• In the two Uisce Éireann investigations, non-compliance issues were found where complaints were inaccurately categorised in one in ten customer contacts reviewed.
• The CRU published three general clarifications on required communication upon the identification of an issue impacting customers, customer messaging for Smart Pay As You Go and fixed rate tariffs for customers.

The CRU has today published its Compliance and Enforcement Annual Report. The report provides an insight into the compliance and enforcement activities undertaken by the CRU during 2022 across energy and water suppliers and network companies.

The report reflects compliance audits and investigations that are the result of direct reporting by market participants, trends in customer complaints received by the CRU and other topical issues identified by the CRU policy teams. Compliance monitoring, including audits and investigations, is an important regulatory tool to ensure suppliers and network companies are adhering to the terms and conditions of their licenses. This annual report also ensures the transparency of the CRU’s compliance monitoring and enforcement processes and decisions to further protect customers rights.

During 2022, the CRU’s compliance and enforcement activities fell under a number of different categories, including informing, compliance monitoring and enforcement, and compliance framework development.

Informing

In 2022, three general clarifications were published to inform regulated entities and clarify issues emerging from a new policy development or, a query, complaint, or investigation. One clarification concerned that where a supplier identifies an issue impacting customers, that they must communicate this to the affected customers. They must also explain the cause of the issue, and outline the remedial action being taken to solve the issue in favour of the customer, in line with the principles stated in the Suppliers’ Handbook. Two further clarifications were issued in relation to customer information for Smart Pay As You Go and fixed rate tariffs for household and non-household customers.

Compliance monitoring, enforcement, and framework development

In 2022, the CRU assessed regulated entities’ compliance with their obligations, including 13 audits across all areas of economic regulation within the CRU remit and 10 investigations. In two Uisce Éireann investigations, non-compliance issues were found where complaints were inaccurately categorised. This was found in the case of one in ten customer contacts reviewed. Uisce Éireann was also not compliant with its obligation in relation to closing complaints, in one case a customer did not receive a written notice of the closure.

Commenting on the announcement, Karen Trant, Director of Customer Policy & Protection said: “The report seeks to further strengthen the regulatory principle of transparency, ensuring the CRU is accountable for its compliance monitoring and enforcement processes, and in allowing public scrutiny of this work. It also highlights the need for Uisce Éireann to review its contact handling and categorisation processes and to provide a clear and easy process for customers who wish to make a complaint and for customers to be provided with timely and accurate information.”