According to a media report, disputes between consumers and their energy suppliers resulted in a record number of arbitration requests in 2023. The responsible energy arbitration board, to which consumers can turn, recorded 25,000 applications last year, more than ever before, as managing director Thomas Kunde told the media company Table.Media. Compared to the previous year, the number increased by almost 40 percent.
In this context, Kunde criticized the electricity and gas price cap: “The increase in arbitration requests is also due to the price cap laws,” he told Table.Media. “These were not the happiest of all the laws that were written. They are incomprehensible and leave gaps.” According to a preliminary evaluation, around 1,900 complaints were received on this topic.
The arbitration requests are affecting more and more companies; last year, according to the evaluation, there were around 750 – and therefore almost twice as many as two years before.
The Energy Arbitration Board is the central body for the out-of-court settlement of disputes between energy supply companies and consumers. If private consumers have unsuccessfully contacted their energy supply company with their complaint, they can seek the help of the Energy Arbitration Board by submitting an application for arbitration. The arbitration board was set up at the end of 2011.
