The opening of the natural gas market in August 2020 allowed dozens of new gas suppliers to offer their services to Ukrainians. The number of gas suppliers for the population nearly doubled over the year of the market’s operation – from 37 to 70.
Previously, the mandatory condition for transition from one supplier to another was the absence of debts for gas received. However, from June 1st 2020, you can already receive and settle payment from your old supplier after the transition.
Moreover, the documents can be submitted online – through the website of the supplier or partner (bank services or government service “Diia”).
This reduces the application procedure to a few weeks, and the transition itself takes three days.
Step one: pick up the package of documents
In order to join another gas supplier, the following documents are required:
- Application to enter into a supply contract with the owner’s signature (and co-owner’s – if any);
- “Personal gas number” or EIC-code (required to fill in the application; consists of 16 characters (letters and numbers) and is located on the front payment slip, or in the personal web-cabinet of the distribution system operator (regional gas network), in the Special Data section);
- Copy of passport (as a rule – all pages);
- Copy of identification code (individual tax number);
- Document on the right of ownership of housing;
- Receipt for last gas payment.
The list of documents and requirements for them may be different from each of the distribution system operators.
Step two: apply to the supplier
According to the legislation, each supplier is required to have its own website, which publishes the rules of supply, information about changes in price, standard contract, a template of the application for joining, etc.
Accordingly, the easiest way to check whether you have collected all the necessary documents will be to go to the site of the new supplier, download, fill out and sign the application, add copies (scans, photos) of the required documents and submit (by mail or via the Internet) to the new supplier.
Some suppliers also accept applications through a bank application or the Diia application. For example, the state supplier Naftogaz of Ukraine proposes to join the company via the Diia app, application processing here takes 10-15 minutes.
However, not all Ukrainians use the Internet. They can go to the office of the supplier, or its partner office – here consultants will help to fill in the application, check and form a package of documents.
Step three: registration and transition
Whichever way the customer chooses, when the selected supplier receives a new application, it sends this data to the information platform of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU). The GTSOU updates the Register of Consumers and informs the previous supplier about the changes.
Throughout six weeks following the switching date, the old supplier shall bill the former customer for all gas consumed before transition to the new supplier. This bill shall be paid within ten days or must be appealed if customer does not agree with the charges.
Thus, the contract is terminated immediately after the application to a new provider. No additional applications or notifications to the previous provider are required.
In general, the transition takes from three days to three weeks from the date of application. After completing the transition procedure, the supplier has three days to notify the customer about the date of gas supply.
Whether the supplier can refuse
The new supplier has the right to refuse a potential customer and withdraw his/her application due to a debt to the previous supplier or due to lack of connection to the gas network. When consumers are disconnected from the gas supply, they cannot change the gas supplier. However, when the gas supply is renewed, the customer can switch to a new gas supplier.
It is also necessary to remember that a customer who decides to change the supplier must settle accounts with the previous supplier. For this purpose, it is necessary to receive the residual payment and pay it within ten days.