Electricity Market Consumer Services Regualation

Electricity Market Customer Services Regulation

PART ONE

Objective, Scope, Legal Basis, Definitions and Abbreviations

Objective

Article 1 — The objective of this regulation is to set forth the standards, procedures and principles that will be applied for the customers that are connected to or that seek connection to the distribution system and the parties that provide service to these customers in accordance with the connection agreements, retail agreements or bilateral agreements.

Scope

Article 2 — This regulation covers the provisions related to the points below that ensure the adequacy, quality and continuity of the services supplied at the distribution level;

The standards of service quality that must be complied with to ensure efficient and uninterrupted service,

The determination and accrual of the electricity consumption,

The principles and procedures to be complied with for the purpose of obtaining electricity and/or capacity in a competitive environment for consumption purposes,

The principles and procedures related to the collection and assessment of customer complaints and provision of information to the customers,

The rights and obligations of customers and compensation for their losses.

The retail services provided to eligible consumers that buy electricity and/or capacity from generation or autoproducer or autoproducer group or wholesale licencees other than retail licencees shall be outside the scope of this Regulation, and provisions related to these sales services shall be determined in bilateral agreements between licencees and the eligible customers.

Legal Basis

Article 3 — This regulation has been issued in line with the provisions of Electricity Market Law no.4628.

Definitions and Abbreviations

Article 4 — For the purposes of interpretation and implementation of this Regulation, the following terms and abbreviations shall bear the following meanings;

Law: Electricity Market Law No.4628 dated 20/2/2001,

Authority: The Energy Market Regulatory Authority,

Board: The Energy Market Regulatory Board,

President: The President of The Energy Market Regulatory Board,

TEDAẞ: Turkish Electricity Distribution Company,

TE Aẞ: Turkish Electricity Transmission Company,

Subscriber Group: Real persons or legal entities having the same service standard,

Connection agreement: The agreement that covers the conditions and provisions relating to the temporary or permanent connection of the real persons or legal entities to the distribution system,

Connection price: The price based on the recovery of expenses relating to the connection of the real persons or legal entities to the distribution system,

Connection capacity: The quantity of power that is calculated as the product of the installed capacity stated in the electricity project of a utilization location and the utilization factor,

Distribution: The transport of electricity through lines of 36 kV or lower voltage level,

Distribution region: The region defined in the license of a distribution company,

Distribution facility: All facilities and grid established exclusively for distribution of electricity at the termination point of transmission facilities,

Distribution system: Electricity distribution facilities and grid located in a distribution region,

Electricity Market Licensing Regulation: The Regulation published in the Official Gazette no.24836 dated 4/8/2002,

Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation: The Regulation published in the Official Gazette no.24843 dated 11/8/2002,

Service: Connection, reading of meters, notifications for payment and other activities relating to customer services for the purpose of sales of electricity and/or capacity,

Disclaimer:

The English version of the Licensing Regulation is intended to assist interested foreign parties. There may be discrepancies between the Turkish and English versions. In case such discrepancies occur, the Turkish version shall prevail.

Bilateral agreements: Commercial agreements relating to sales/purchase of electricity and/or capacity between real persons or legal entities and licensees or in between licensees in line with special legal provisions. Bilateral agreements are not subject to Board’s approval,

Applicable legislation: means the laws, regulations, communiqués and circulars and the license or licenses granted to relevant legal entities on Regulator’s decisions regarding the electricity market,

Relevant legal entity: distribution licensee and/or retail licensee, as the case may be,

Customer: The consumers receiving service through retail agreement or bilateral agreements,

Retail service: Other services like reading of meters and billing other apart from sales of electricity and/or capacity that are provided by retail licensees to consumers,

Retail agreement: For a utilisation location that has a connection agreement, the agreement that covers the conditions and provisions relating to commercial activities for procurement of electricity and/or capacity and obtainment of services between retail licensees and customers in accordance with the provisions of Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation,

Retail company: Legal entity engaged in (i) retail of electricity to consumers other than those doing import of electricity and/or capacity and also other than those directly connected to the transmission system and/or (ii) providing retail service to consumers,

Non-eligible consumer: real person or legal entity in a region that can purchase electricity and/or capacity only from distribution companies holding retail license or retail companies of that region,

Eligible consumer: Real persons or legal entities who have the right to choose its supplier because they consume more electricity than the threshold set by the Board and/or because they are directly connected to transmission system,

Tariff: Arrangements that set out the transmission, distribution and sales of electricity and/or capacity and the prices, provisions and conditions concerning the services related to these,

Supplier: Generation companies, autoproducers, autoproducer groups, wholesale companies, retail companies, distribution companies holding retail license that supply electricity and/or capacity to their customers,

Consumer: Eligible and non-eligible consumers that purchase electricity for their own needs,

Active power: Power measured in kW that operate in the same phase with electric current,¹

Active energy: Energy measured in kWh that is the product of active power and time,²

Reactive power: Power measured in kVAr, non-operating and with 90 degrees phase difference with respect to the voltage of electric current,³

Reactive energy: Energy measured in kVArh that is the product of reactive power and time,⁴

Branching (connection) line: All equipment (such as line, cable, poll, breaker and measurement system,

etc) which is used for meeting only connection request of customer and is under customer proprietary, and which is constructed by customer up to the connection point that the customer is connected to the distribution system.⁵

PART TWO

Application and Transactions relating to Customers SECTION ONE

Connection Application, Connection Agreement, Connection to the System Connection Application

Article 5 — A real person or a legal entity that is willing to purchase electricity for a new facility or a utilisation location through connection to the distribution system shall apply to the distribution licensee in the same region directly or via the retail licensee operating in the same region.

The owner and/or owners of the property or his attorney, the renter together with the relevant documents if

the property is rented who makes the application shall submit;

¹ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 25034 ² Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 25034 ³ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 25034 ⁴ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 25034 ⁵ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039

dated 28 February 2003. dated 28 February 2003. dated 28 February 2003. dated 28 February 2003. dated 30 December 2005.

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Title deed and the approved electricity project,⁶

The permission for utilisation of buildings in accordance with Articles with no 30 and 31 of the Reconstruction Law (applicable for those within settlement area),

The permission for utilisation of buildings in accordance with Articles with no 27 and 30 of the Reconstruction Law (applicable for those within rural area and surroundings and fields under or ready for cultivation) ,

The relevant document related to permission for utilisation of building that is given by the Public Works and Settlement Provincial Directorates (applicable for those outside settlement areas and rural areas),

The document related to permission obtained from the relevant competent authorities for the places for utilisation that do not require permit,

Other documents that will be requested where required by the applicable legislation.⁷

A real person or a legal entity that is willing to procure electricity for the purpose of utilisation for a limited period through a temporary connection to the distribution system shall apply by submitting the electricity project and the permit required by his purpose of utilisation.

Assessment of the application and connection agreement

Article 6 — It is essential that the request of real persons or legal entities relating to connection to the distribution system is met by the distribution licensee in accordance with the provisions applicable legislation and that service is provided via connection agreements.

The application for connection shall be evaluated by the distribution licensee taking into consideration the requirements for expansion investment or new investment within the framework of the existing circumstances of the distribution system.

According to this;

If the existing circumstances of the distribution system is suitable for meeting the request for connection, connection agreement shall be signed between the distribution licensee and the applicant on the condition that the documents set out in Article no 5 are submitted.

If the existing circumstances of the distribution system are not suitable for meeting the request for connection and extension investment or new investment is required; a reasonable period for meeting connection request shall be notified to the applicant in writing which include the reasons, (i) within 10 business days from the date of application if no site studies are required, (ii) within 20 business days from the date of the application if site studies are required. The applicant has the right to object to this period, and he may apply to the Authority for this issue. The application shall be evaluated by the Authority in accordance with the provisions of Article no. 38 of the Electricity Market Licensing Regulation. If the justification of the comments submitted by the distribution licensee is not found to be appropriate by the Board, connection agreement shall be signed between the distribution licensee and the applicant.

The required investment may be incurred by the applicant if the applicant is found to be unfair within the framework of paragraph (b), or if the period notified by the distribution licensee for meeting the request for connection is found to be long by the applicant, or if the request for connection can be met by constructing branching line. Under these conditions, the preparation of the connection scheme shall be under the responsibility of the applicant, and all the information required for the studies related to preparation of the connection scheme shall be provided by the distribution licensee. Following completion, the connection scheme shall be submitted to the distribution licensee for approval. Distribution licensee shall complete his examination on the mentioned scheme within 5 business days following submission and shall approve the scheme and return the scheme to the applicant for revision. The reasons for revision of the scheme shall be notified to the applicant in writing. If the connection scheme is approved, connection agreement that regulate issues like the rights concerning the ownership and utilisation of the branching line and conditions regarding funding and connection shall be signed between the distribution licensee and the applicant.

⁶ Changed via the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 25034 dated 28 February 2003. ⁷ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 25034 dated 28 February 2003.

Disclaimer:

A connection agreement concerning a limited period for the purpose of utilisation shall be signed between the distribution licensee and the real person or legal entity that is willing to purchase electricity via a temporary connection to the distribution system.

After the connection agreement is signed and within the period set out in the agreement, the relevant connection assets shall be installed and the connection price determined in accordance with Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation shall be paid to the distribution licensee by the applicant.

The connection price shall be collected one-off and during the carrying out of the first connection agreement and shall not be paid back.

The connection agreement shall remain in force as long as the utilisation location in the address stated in the connection agreement exists and a new connection agreement shall not be required for a change in customer in the utilisation location.

Connection to the system

Article 7 — The retail agreement or the bilateral agreement shall be documented to the distribution licensee for the connection to the distribution system as a customer of the real person or legal entity that made a connection agreement.

Before connection to the system, the compatibility of the metering devices and the circuits of the customer shall be tested, and the relevant parts of the meters and measurement circuits be sealed and first index read on the meter and connection to the system be recorded by the distribution licensee;

Within 3 business days inside settlement area,

Within 5 business days outside settlement area.

After the connection of the customer to the system, all distribution services shall be provided by the distribution licensee within the framework of the provisions of connection agreement and the applicable legislation.

Utilisation of facilities owned by another customer

⁸Article 8 — The distribution licensee can meet new connection requests via using a branching line and its annexes those are owned by a customer only within the framework of the provisions of that customer’s connection agreement, and through taking over that customer’s distribution facilities under common use.

Changes in the connection capacity

Article 9 — Customers other than residential subscribers shall apply to the distribution licensee together with the modification scheme within 7 business days if the connection capacity in the facilities owned by them increases more than 20%.

The distribution licensee shall examine the modification scheme and notify the examination results and the response for implementation to the customer in writing within a period of 15 days.

Where the increase in the connection capacity brings about a cost, transactions shall be carried out within the framework of the applicable legislation and the prices related to these transactions shall be charged to the customer.

The connection agreement shall be modified for the purpose of inclusion of the transactions carried out. The provisions of applicable legislation related to unlawful consumption of electricity shall be applied to

the customers that do not comply with these obligations.

SECTION TWO

Retail Agreement

Article 10 — Retail agreement shall be prepared to set forth the minimum provisions related to service delivery and the minimum provisions related to issues like the tariffs, agreement period and termination of agreement that will be applied to the relevant category of subscribers in accordance with the provisions of Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation and it shall be signed between the retail licensee and the customer. The retail licensee shall provide the distribution licensee information related to each of the retail agreements in writing within 3 days following the date the agreement is signed.

Provisions that are related to improvement of competition in the market and that facilitate the practical application by customers may be included within the scope of retail agreement, as long as these provisions

⁸ Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Disclaimer:

comply with the income and/or price arrangements carried out by the Authority within the framework of Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation.

Retail licensee shall notify the relevant distribution licensee in writing at least 3 business days prior to the date of the termination of the retail agreement..

Distribution licensee shall cut the electricity of the utilisation location if the customer whose retail agreement has expired does not have a new retail agreement.

SECTION THREE

Service Quality and Provision of Uninterrupted Service

Service Quality

Article 11 —Distribution licensee shall provide service to all customers in his region in accordance with the applicable legislation to ensure the adequacy, quality and continuity of electricity provided to each customer without any discrimination between equal parties.

Retail licensee shall provide service of same quality to all the customers in the distribution region he is licensed for without any discrimination in accordance with retail agreement.

Outages

Article 12 —Distribution licensee shall maintain the distribution system in a condition to ensure the quality and continuity of electricity provided to the service receivers except for force majeure conditions defined in Article no. 51 of Electricity Market Licensing Regulation or specific force majeure conditions set out in his license or programmed outages.

Customers shall be informed by the distribution licensee about programmed outages at least 48 hours prior to the outage via the written, verbal or visual press.

SECTION FOUR

Theft of Electricity and Illegal Consumption of Electricity

Theft of electricity Article 13 — In cases of;

Illicit electricity consumption to obtain deficit or erroneous measure or no measure for the electricity or avoiding from passing the electricity through the meters installed legally to prevent the correct determination of consumption by intervention of the real persons or legal entities on the distribution system or the meter or the metering system or the facilities,

Beginning use of electricity that was cut by the distribution licensee in accordance with the applicable

legislation, without getting permission of the distribution licensee, and without fulfilling its obligations by real or legal persons⁹;

In case of encountering a finding that may lead to a suspicion concerning illicit of electricity during controls, theft of electricity process is kicked-off within the framework of the methods identified in accordance

with the Article 15. Identification of theft of electricity is required following the aforementioned process, for commencing of theft of electricity treatment.¹⁰

In determination of the theft of electricity, it is essential that the determinations of relevant legal entity be based on correct findings and documents and that consumer rights are not violated.

Distribution licensee shall cut the electricity service of real persons or legal entities that are determined to be engaged in electricity theft and will file charges with the legal authorities (related courts).

The stolen electricity shall be calculated in accordance with the documents prepared according to the results of metering procedures and tests. The utilisation period and the amount of electricity consumed within this period shall be taken into consideration in the accruals of the price of stolen electricity made by the relevant legal entity for the real persons or legal entities within the framework of the procedures set out in accordance with Article no. 15.

Illegal consumption of electricity

Article 14 — A customer shall be considered to be consuming electricity illegally if the customer;

Supplies electricity to third parties from his facilities after the metering point,

⁹ Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005. ¹⁰ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Disclaimer:

Consumes electricity by making payments with regard to the payment notices arranged in the name of the former customer although he does not have a retail agreement of his own,

Consumes electricity without notifying the relevant legal entities although the meters and the metering circuits are not sealed,

Connects or allows connection without waiting for the completion of transactions related to connection that should be carried out by the distribution licensee in accordance with Article no.7, ¹¹

Consumes electricity outside the scope of his subscriber group without any application made to the relevant legal entities,

Does not notify in writing to the relevant legal entities within 15 days although he has changed the power transformer,

Does not comply with the obligations stated in Article no.9.

Beginning use of electricity without getting permission of the distribution licensee after fulfilling its

obligations.¹²

The electricity of the customer who is determined to be consuming electricity illegally shall be cut by the distribution licensee.

In case of existence of a suspicion concerning prevention of correct measurement through interfering meter or metering system, which is reached via sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph 1, the meter is taken for examining by replacing it with a proper one. The provisions of Article 13 are applied in case of fixing that deficit or erroneous measure or no measure for the electricity through preventing the correct determination of consumption by interfering the meter or metering system. ¹⁴

The electricity of the customer whose illicit electricity usage is fixed, is cut by distribution licensee, in case of the obligations those are determined in accordance with Article 15, and approved by the Board, are not fulfilled. ¹⁵

Common provisions related to theft or illegal consumption of electricity Article 15 — The procedures related to;

determination,

duration,

calculation of consumption amount,

accrual,

payment,

regarding theft or illegal consumption of electricity and other procedures and principles shall be determined by the distribution licensee and submitted to the Authority and come into force upon approval of the Board. These procedures cannot be changed without approval of the Board.

SECTION FIVE

Meter and Control Equipment

General provisions

Article 16 — The active and reactive electricity consumption and power quantities of the customer shall be metered using meters installed pursuant to applicable legislation and duly installed metering systems.¹⁶

Distribution licensee shall have the meter controlled periodically for accuracy, calibration and maintenance within the framework of the provisions of the Law No. 3516 on Measurement and Calibration. The cost of periodical controls shall be borne by the meter-owner over the prices established by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Deleted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

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19 20

Customers purchasing electricity under agreements based on double-period tariff covering 30 kW and higher energy and power shall install meters with demand-meter for the measurement of the highest instantaneous value of the power withdrawn.¹⁷

The metering system required for metering reactive energy quantity, shall be installed by customers other than the residential subscribers within the framework of the provisions of the legislation. In cases where such customers consume inductive energy exceeding thirty-three percent of the active energy they withdraw or consume capacitive reactive energy exceeding twenty percent of the active energy quantity, they shall pay reactive energy consumption fee. The principles and procedures applicable to reactive energy fees to be paid by customers who exceed both of inductive and capacitive energy consumption limits or who do not install or duly install reactive energy metering systems although they are obliged to, shall be indicated in the tariff proposals to be submitted to the Authority within the framework of the Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation and relevant communiqués.¹⁸

Location of meter

Article 17 — Location of meters and relevant equipment shall be determined by distribution licensees within the framework of the applicable legislation. Meters shall be installed in a manner whereby relevant legal entity can easily read the meter.

Relevant legal entity may install additional metering and control equipment at customer facilities if technically so required. Customer shall not claim any fee like rental fee for the places where meters as well as metering and control equipment are installed by the relevant legal entity.

Control of meters

Article 18 — In cases where the meter is broken down or there is suspicion over metering accuracy, relevant legal entity or customer may request the control of meter. Such request shall be fulfilled by distribution licensee within the framework of the Law No. 3516 on Measurements and Adjustment and the requesting party shall pay its cost.

In case of demounting of meter; a meter capable of performing the functions of demounted meter is mounted temporarily by distribution licensee. However, this temporary measure cannot be longer than 1 month. In case of presentation of a report to the customer that the demounted meter is not suitable to use, a new meter either supplied by the customer or by the distribution licensee provided that it is accepted and paid by the

customer, is mounted.

Meter’s failure to record consumption

²¹Article 19 — In case of fixing that the meter fails to record consumption for reasons other than customer’s fault, past term consumption of the customer is calculated and accrued through taking into account, if available, past consumption records for the same period, if not, after putting the meter in operation again, the average consumption of the customer in first two consumption period based on the customer’s payment notice.

For accruals to be made by retail licensee unit prices effective in the period when the meter did not record consumption are used and no default interest is applied.

When the meter of customer consuming electricity within the scope of bilateral agreements does not record correctly, the distribution licensee treats in accordance with this Article.

Meter’s inaccurate recording of consumption

²²Article 20 — In case of fixing that the meter inaccurately records consumption for reasons other than customer’s fault, calculations are made through taking into account, if available, past consumption records for the same period, if not, after putting the meter in operation again, the average consumption of the customer in first two consumption period based on the customer’s payment notice, and the difference is accrued accordingly.

Differences in consumption are accrued to the customer by the retail licensee based on the unit prices effective in the relevant period, without any default interest.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Disclaimer:

If the difference found as a result of above calculations is in favor of the customer, then return or deduction procedures are applied in line with the provisions of paragraph four of Article 23.

When the meter of customer consuming electricity within the scope of bilateral agreements does not record correctly, the distribution licensee treats in accordance with this Article.

SECTION SIX

Establishment of Electricity Consumption Quantities and Payment Notices

Establishment of electricity consumption quantity payment notices

Article 21 — Excluding the cases wherein pre-payment type meters are used;

Principles and procedures applicable to consumption period forming the basis of the payment notice, preparation of payment notices and their notification to customers shall be regulated pursuant to the provisions of retail agreement or bilateral agreement.

Retail licensee shall read end of period indices from the customer meters on the basis of consumption periods forming the basis of payment notices and the difference between the indices of two consecutive periods shall be accepted as customer’s electricity consumption.

The payment notice prepared by the retail licensee shall be notified to the customer minimum ten days prior to the payment date.²³

Information to be indicated on the payment notice

Article 22 — The payment notices to be prepared for customers shall contain the following information, at minimum, in accordance with the pricing methodology established within the framework of the Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation;

Name-surname or title, address, registration number, file number and subscriber category of the customer,

Trademark, type and serial number, multiplier and current and/or voltage transformer rates, if any, of meter or meters,

First and last index reading rates representing consumption as well as reading dates,

Quantity of electricity consumed,

Energy and capacity information taken as a basis for pricing consumption,

Electricity unit prices and consumption price,

Tax, legal deductions and debts,

Payment deadline and payment points,

In case of changed meters, consumption values for the same period,

Telephone and fax numbers and internet website address of customer services center,

Daily average energy consumption,

Next reading period,

Debt from past periods, if any.

Notification of error

Article 23 — Errors pertaining to payment notice are; incorrect meter reading, use of wrong tariff or wrong multiplication factor, wrong calculation of consumption amount and/or price or repeated payment notice, etc.

Customer may object to notices containing errors stemming from the retail licensees latest by the payment deadline. The fact that an objection has been made does not annul the payment obligation. In cases where the difference between the consumption price which is the subject of objection and the consumption price paid by the customer in the previous consumption period is higher than thirty percent, the customer may deposit the consumption price paid in the previous consumption period before the payment deadline. In this case, provisions of Article 24 shall not be applied to customer.

Relevant legal entity shall review and finalize the objection within ten working days following the application date and shall notify the customer of the results of review in writing.

²³ Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25134 dated June 10, 2003.

Disclaimer:

If the result of reviews reveals that objection is justifiable, the price collected in excess of the consumption price, which is the subject of objection, shall be paid back to the customer within three working days or deducted from the next consumption price, if so desired by the customer.

If the result of the review reveals that the objection is not justifiable, the difference shall be collected from the customer.

Overdue debts

Article 24 — Issues pertaining to the collection of overdue debts shall be governed by the provisions of retail agreement or bilateral agreements.

In cases where the customer fails to pay the amounts required by retail agreement or bilateral agreements in their due course, distribution licensee may cut their electricity.

The default interest rate indicated in the retail agreement, shall not be more than the default interest rate indicated in Article 51 of the Law No. 6183 on Procedures for the Collection of Public Receivables.

Debts incurring from consumption in past periods by other customers at the same location of consumption shall not be transferred new customers.

Reconnection of disconnected electricity service

Article 25 — The electricity of customers disconnected by distribution licensees pursuant to Articles 10, 13, 14 and 24, shall be reconnected

in two working days inside settlement area,

in three working days outside settlement area, provided that they fulfill their relevant obligations.

For the reconnection of electricity, customer shall pay a disconnection-reconnection fee to the distribution

licensee in cash and in return for a receipt. No disconnection-connection fee is asked from the subscriber whose electricity is actually cut.²⁴

Distribution licensees shall specify service disconnection-reconnection fees by the end of October every year and propose such fees to the Authority. Service disconnection-reconnection fees shall take effect upon Board approval.

SECTION SEVEN Provisions applicable to Deposit Fees

Deposit fee

Article 26 — Against the possibility that the customer may not pay the electricity consumption prices in the case that location of consumption changes and/or the term of retail agreement expires or the agreement is terminated, retail licensee may request deposit fee to set off debts.

Principles and procedures applicable to deposit fees, their calculation and updating, shall be established and proposed to the Authority by retail licensee by the end of October every year and shall take effect upon Board approval.

Customers outside the residential subscriber category may also submit bank performance bond (without any time limitation) in place of cash.²⁵

In case of expiration or termination of retail agreement, retail licensee shall return the updated deposit collected in cash, within maximum three working days, to the relevant real person or legal entity, provided that all debts have been paid.

Customers exempted from the obligation of deposit payment

Article 27 — Deposit fees shall not be collected from customers with pre-payment type meters. The cash deposit fee of customers that have replaced their old meters with pre-payment type meters shall be returned after being updated within the framework of the procedures laid down in Article 26.

PART THREE

Provisions Applicable to Customer Services SECTION ONE

General Provisions Pertaining to Customer Services Center and Customer Complaints

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

Disclaimer:

Customer Services Center

Article 28 — Distribution and retail licensees shall establish customer services centers that will operate on a 24-hour basis with satisfactory equipment and personnel in order to respond to fault notices, notices for thefts and illegal consumption of electricity, complaints and similar applications

Telephone and fax numbers and website address of customer services center shall be indicated on payment notices.

Notices and complaint applications and responding to applications

Article 29 — Fault notices as well as notices for thefts and illegal consumption of electricity can be made in person, by telephone or internet. Other notices to the customer services center of the relevant legal entity shall be made in writing.

Notices recorded by the customer services center shall be concluded within fifteen working days and the procedure envisaged may be notified to the applicant in writing, upon request.

In cases of dispute between the applicant and the relevant legal entity in connection with the procedure envisaged by the relevant legal entity regarding applications made to the customer services center; applicant can only apply to the Authority if the envisaged procedure is in violation of the relevant legislation. The Authority shall review the issue or have it reviewed only when it deems necessary.

The identities of persons who notify thefts and illegal consumption shall be kept confidential.

Record keeping and reporting

Article 30 — All applications, notices and complaints communicated to the customer services center shall be recorded and reported by relevant legal entities within the framework of the legislation applicable to service reliability, service interruption and other performance criteria.

SECTION TWO

Provision of Information to Customers and Compensation of Losses Provision of Information to customers

Article 31 — Relevant legal entities shall perform all kinds of information activities to ensure that customers receive adequate, efficient, safe, uninterrupted and economic service and know about service options.

The obligation of informing customers shall be fulfilled by the customer services center of the relevant legal entity. Distribution licensee shall prepare films, books, brochures and catalogues to be supplied to customers for free of charge.

Retail licensees announce the share of electricity from renewable sources in the their sales of previous year.²⁶

Consumption-related information request

Article 32 — Relevant legal entity shall provide the customer with a document indicating in detail the electricity consumption of the customer within the last twelve years, upon the customer’s request and once in every calendar year, for free of charge.

Customer rights and compensation of losses

Article 33 — Article 11 of the Law and the provisions of Law No. 4077 on Protection of Consumers as well as other applicable legislation shall be applied for the rights of customers purchasing electricity service under the provisions of this law and for the compensation of their losses.

SECTION FOUR

Miscellaneous Provisions

PART ONE

Obtaining Information, Information Sharing and Annulled Provisions Obtaining information

Article 34 — For issues that are not covered or clarified by this Regulation, the Authority may be applied to within the framework of Article 50 of the Electricity Market Licensing Regulation.

Information Sharing

Article 35 — Upon request and with the permission of eligible consumers, distribution licensees may provide retail companies with the names, surnames, titles and legal addresses of consumers that exceed the eligible consumer limit. Such information shall not be used for purposes other than those indicated in the license.

²⁶ Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

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Sale of electricity and/or capacity to non-eligible consumers by retail companies

Article 36 — In order to be able to sell electricity and/or capacity to non-eligible consumers in distribution regions where retail licensees operate under their licenses;

Retail company must have presented retail sale offer to all willing non-eligible consumers in that distribution region,

Meters of the retail company shall be electronic meters that are capable of multi-time zone metering pursuant to the communiqué published by the Authority.

Retail tariffs must have been approved by the Authority.

Annulled provisions

Article 37 — The Electricity Tariffs Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 22458 dated 9/11/1995 has been annulled as of April 1, 2003 with the exception of its provisions pertaining to establishment and approval of the tariffs of legal entities that are in the scope of existing contracts based on the Law No. 3096 and whose tariffs are approved by the Ministry. Until such legal entities receive their licenses pursuant to the applicable legislation, their tariffs shall continue to be established within the framework of the subject Regulation.²⁷²⁸

PART TWO

Provisional Articles and Final Provisions

Provisional Article 1 — Excluding temporary connections made for a limited period of time for utilization purposes, the terms of retail contracts shall not be less than one year by the end of 2003.

Provisional Article 2 — The connection agreements of real persons and legal entities using electricity from a shared meter, without any individual consumer connection agreement and retail agreement before the effective date of this Regulation, shall be concluded distribution licensees and their retail agreements by retail licensees by the end of 2006^{29 30 31}.

Provisional Article 3 — After the publication date of this Regulation, principles and procedures applicable to detection, period, and consumption quantity calculation and accrual methods to be used in connection with theft and illegal consumption of electricity covered by Article 15 of this Regulation; service disconnection-reconnection fees covered by Article 25; and deposit fees as well as their calculation and updating principles and procedures covered by Article 26, shall be submitted to the Authority by TEDAẞ and its affiliates as well as other legal entities operating in the market, together with their tariff proposals to be prepared pursuant to Provisional Article 2 of the Electricity Market Tariffs Regulation.

Provisional Article 4 — Contracts and agreements signed between non-eligible customers and distribution companies having retail licenses before the effective date of this Regulation, shall be effective until these customers change their suppliers. Upon the request of these customers to purchase electricity or capacity from suppliers other than existing distribution company having retail license, the abovementioned contracts and agreements will be cancelled and connection agreements will be signed.³²

Provisional Article 5 — Retail agreements and connection agreements shall be prepared in accordance with the principles and procedures to be laid down in the communiqué issued by the Authority by January 1, 2003.

Provisional Article 6 — Retail companies shall be allowed to sell electricity and/or capacity to non-eligible consumers as from January 1, 2007^{33 34 35}

Effectiveness

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25157 dated July 3, 2003.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25333 dated December 31, 2003.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25692 dated January 6, 2005.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25692 dated January 6, 2005.

Inserted by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25034 dated February 28, 2003.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette No. 25692 dated January 6, 2005.

Amended by the Regulation published in the Official Gazette no 26039 dated 30 December 2005.

Disclaimer:

Article 38 — Provisional Articles 3 and 5 of this Regulation shall take effect on the publication date of this Regulation and other provisions on March 1, 2003.

Enforcement

Article 39 — This Regulation shall be enforced by the President.