At the beginning of January, MPs Kops and Wilders already stated Parliamentary questions about the poor accessibility of energy companies. Following the findings of the Consumers' Association that half of the energy companies do not comply with the statutory rules for accessibility, Renske Leijten (SP) also took action on 17 January by asking questions to Minister Jetten.

Leijten asks Minister Jetten (Climate and Energy) What is the government doing about the poor accessibility of energy suppliers? Recently, many people have sought contact with the energy companies, mainly because of all the uncertainty about the fluctuating energy prices and the price ceiling. People do not know where they stand due to the poor accessibility of energy suppliers, says Leijten, while the price ceiling was precisely intended to reassure them. How will the minister ensure that companies comply with the law? According to Jetten, the energy suppliers could not cope with the large number of questions, but waiting times would now decrease again. The minister will point out to companies that, according to the law, they must provide an e-mail address and telephone number. If they fail to do so, the Authority for Consumers and Markets will have to enforce.

Within the CCMA Community led to the finding of the Dutch Consumers' Association to some outrage and discussion. Reference was made to, among other things, the case between Netflix and ACM.

In June 2020, the Court of Rotterdam ruled in a case between Netflix and ACM. Netlfix was called to account by ACM because the streaming company did not comply with the obligation to state an e-mail address with which customers can reach the company.

Netflix versus ACM on accessibility

The judge came to the conclusion that Dutch service providers are not obliged to list their e-mail on their website – something that was made mandatory by Directive 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights Directive). However, they must of course still publish information that allows for quick contact and direct and effective communication.

But other communication methods may also be used for this, in addition to e-mail, according to him Martijn Michael of ICTRecht. “The Guideline should be interpreted technology-neutral, meaning that the focus should be on the goal (the rapid, direct and effective communication) and not the technique used to achieve that goal,” says Michael. In short, "electronic postal address" - in addition to addresses for e-mail - should also be understood as other modern forms of electronic communication, such as the LiveChat used by Netflix.

Legislative amendment April 2022

But after this ruling by the Dutch multiple court on the European directive, the Dutch law was amended in April 2022. With this amendment to the law, it has been specifically stipulated that companies have a visible to the consumer telephone number and e-mail address should mention. Hardly any attention has been paid to that change; only trade association Thuiswinkel.org came back to it in November 2022.

It was raised in the CCMA community that a contact form with the option for customers to add attachments, with an acknowledgment of receipt and proper follow-up should also suffice. Another argument put forward was that working with a form (possibly with additional closed questions) leads to a better result when it comes to First Call Resolution.

The Kifid Complaints Institute also explains the law more broadly

In the summer of 2022, Ziptone wrote about a ruling from the financial complaints institute Kifid, which found that ABN Amro does not need to communicate with customers via email. Other available channels such as chatbot, paper mail, social media channels and telephone numbers that the bank offers are sufficient. The ruling was in response to a case brought by a customer. The ruling in that case was made by Kifid on July 27, 2022, when the amended law was already applicable.

We are now waiting for answers to parliamentary questions – or for the first court case to once again enforce the use of technology-neutral alternatives. (Ziptone/Erik Bouwer)

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