Details
All domestic customers can obtain the benefit if they have a natural gas supply contract belonging to:
- a household with an ISEE indicator not exceeding €8,265
- a household with more than 3 dependent children and ISEE indicator not exceeding €20,000
- a household with a gas meter of a class not exceeding G6 (the class of the meter is linked to the quantity of gas that can be transported to a point of supply and distinguishes between domestic and industrial or commercial users. This parameter is checked by the distributor).
Compensation is granted both to customers who have concluded an individual supply contract (direct domestic customers) and customers who use commonhold facilities (indirect domestic customers).
A direct domestic customer is a customer who is the direct holder of a natural gas supply contract (individual supply) for the household of residence. The holder of the contract is therefore always a natural person: the benefit application can only be made by the holder of the contract.
An indirect domestic customer is the customer who does not directly hold a natural gas supply contract for the home but uses a commonhold-type natural gas system (centralised supply) for domestic use. In this case, the applicant for the benefit does not necessarily have to be the holder of the centralised supply. The holder of the centralised supply contract can be either a natural person or also a legal person (the commonhold).
Yes, the gas social benefit is also granted for mixed supplies (e.g. individual supply for hot water and cooking, central supply for heating, etc.) as long as the applicant meets the requirements to be accepted.
No, the benefit for centralised supplies can only be claimed if the supply is for a resident home.
No, the benefit is only granted for supplies served by natural gas transported by distribution networks.
To submit the application, you need:
- an identity document
- possibly Annex D for delegation (if the request is submitted by a delegate and not by the holder of the supply)
- Form A completed. Even if only one benefit is requested, it is sufficient to fill in the boxes relating only to the supply (electricity or gas) for which you are applying
- valid ISEE certificate
- Annex CF with the ISEE core components
- Annex FN for large families, if the ISEE is higher than €8,265 (but under €20,000)
- self-certification of the use of natural gas.
It is also necessary to have the following information, which is available in the bill or in the supply contract:
- POD code (gas delivery point identifier). This is a code composed of 14 numbers that identifies the physical point where the natural gas is delivered by the supplier and consumed by the end customer. The code does not change even if you switch to another supplier.
The forms are documents which constitute a notarial certificate, therefore their content must be truthful.
The forms can be found at SGAte (the information system through which operations are managed and benefit requirements are verified) and in the Municipalities.
You can use a single form (Form A) to request both the electricity and gas benefit for economic hardship. From July 2018, you can also request the water benefit, again by filling out Form A in the appropriate section. In this way, the application is completed only once, attaching the necessary documents to be handed in to the Municipality or the CAF.
The application must be submitted to the Municipality of residence or to another body designated by the Municipality (Tax Advice Centre [CAF], Mountain Community) using the appropriate forms.
Yes, by filling in the appropriate form in Annex D for proxies.
The amounts provided for are differentiated with respect to the category of use associated with the gas supply, the climate zone of the supply point and the number of members in the registry family (persons linked by marriage, kinship, affinity, adoption, protection or emotional ties, cohabitants and having the same residence). The value of the gas social benefit is updated annually by the Authority by 31 December of the previous year.
You can calculate the average value of the gas benefit directly at site of Arera.
Supply takes place in different ways depending on whether the request concerns an individual system (direct customer) or a centralised system (indirect customer).
- For direct customers: the supply is made through the gas bill. It does not occur in a single amount, but the annual sum is divided into the different bills corresponding to consumption in the 12 months following submission of the application. Each bill will carry a portion of the benefit in proportion to the period to which the bill refers.
- For indirect customers: the payment is made through the issuance of a single payment by bank transfer. The bonifico domiciliato (wire transfer) is a payment system whereby benefit holders, upon acceptance of the benefit application, by going to a post office with their identity document and tax code, withdraw the amount of money to which they are entitled.
For direct customers: a message is inserted in the bill informing the customer that the benefit has been granted. The amount relating to the application of the benefit is indicated in detail in each bill (in the total network services - fixed fee section), for the entire period of the benefit.
For indirect customers: by a special SGAte notification, indirect customers are informed of the acceptance of their application and the date from which the transfer can be collected at post offices. The amount can be collected by the person entitled, within the period indicated in the notice (usually two months), by presenting an identity document and the tax code.
The progress of your benefit claim can be verified:
- at the Body where the application was submitted (the Municipality of residence, the CAF, the Mountain Community, etc.) with the receipt issued on delivery of the application
- by calling the toll-free number 800166654 providing the tax identification number or the request identification number
- at the following site, in the reserved section "Check your file online" which you can access with your tax code and access credentials. The credentials (User ID and password) are issued by the Municipality or CAF where the request for the benefit has been submitted.
For economic hardship, the benefit is granted for 12 months. At the end of this period, to obtain a new benefit, the citizen must renew the application to be accepted by submitting the correct application.
Indirect customers who have not received the bonifico domiciliato within the established time frame (the two months indicated in the SGAte letter), can request the reissue of the transfer by filling out the appropriate Form G available at the offices of the municipality or on the website of the Authority. In this form, it is possible to delegate for the collection of the transfer by a person other than the holder of the supply that made the benefit application.
Caution: the reissue request must be submitted at least one month after the expiry date indicated in the SGAte notification. For example, if the letter indicated 31/12/2018 as the end date of availability of the transfer, the date from which the request for reissue can be submitted is 01/02/2019.
Yes, legitimate heirs may request the reissue of the transfer by submitting the following to the municipality of residence:
- the documents proving they are the heir apparent
- Form Gbis
- identification number of the original application submitted to obtain the benefit (available in the notice received from SGAte).
For economic hardship, the gas social benefit is granted for 12 months. At the end of this period, to obtain a new benefit, the citizen must renew the application by submitting the correct application.
Renewal can be made only if the conditions for admission (ISEE, residence, etc.) are still met and is requested by submitting an application to the municipal offices or CAF, about one month before the current supply expires (for instance, if the supply period runs from 1-1-2019 to 31-12-2019, the renewal must be submitted in November 2019 in order to ensure continuity of disbursement).
The SGAte system sends a special notice to all customers who already receive the benefit near the expiry date, to remind them of the renewal date.
The forms to be used are, alternatively:
- if there are variations from the application already submitted (e.g. the family composition has changed), Form A
- if the conditions have not changed since the previous application, Form RS (simplified renewal).
Upon renewal, the customer must submit an ISEE certificate valid for the period in which the supply starts (about 1 -2 months after the submission of the application).
Therefore, when applying for renewal, your ISEE certificate must have an expiry date of not less than 1-2 months.
Changes may be made known to the system upon renewal.
Therefore, if during the 12 months of the benefit, the number of family members or the income and wealth situation of the citizen changes for instance, these can only be considered by SGAte when the application for the benefit is renewed.
In case of change of delivery address:
- for direct customers (individual supplies), during the period in which the gas benefit is already active, the citizen must go to the new Municipality (CAF) of residence, presenting Form VF (supply change) and the gas social benefit is transferred to the new gas supply contract already activated, until the original expiry of the right. For example, if citizens have a gas benefit for the period from 1 September 2018 to 31 August 2019 and in January 2019 they transfer their gas supply to another city, they must then apply for a change of supply in the municipality of residence and the benefit months that are missing at the end of the benefit period are automatically discounted from the gas bills of the supply activated in the new supply
- for indirect customers (centralised supplies), the change of delivery address can only be made known to SGAte when the application for renewal is submitted.
Domestic customers who cease to use the individual supply and only use a centralised supply, are no longer direct customers and are given the opportunity to request a new benefit as indirect customers, presenting Form A filled out in the parts that concern them.
Domestic customers (including all members of the household relevant for ISEE purposes) who interrupt the use of a centralised gas supply and enter into a contract for an individual gas supply cannot claim the benefit for individual gas supply until the end of the benefit's validity as they have received the full amount of the benefit for the 12 months of the benefit in advance by way of the bonifico domiciliato.
Only when the central supply benefit expires can the customer apply for a new individual supply benefit using Form A.
In the event of a change of supplier or contract type (e.g. changing from a contract in a more protected market to one in the free market), the gas social benefit continues to be provided without interruption until the end of the validity of the right.
Yes, in some cases, when the municipality or the competent distributor finds that one of the conditions for entitlement to the supply is missing or has changed.
If, for instance:
- the personal data declared is incorrect
- the ISEE declaration is untrue or does not comply with the limits set
- the gas contract changes from "domestic use" to "non-domestic use"
- the natural gas contract is registered in the name of another party (either by transfer or takeover)
- a meter with a class higher than G6 is installed
- a direct customer becomes an indirect customer.
Customers receive a notification from SGAte in which they are informed of the interruption (or withdrawal) of the compensation and the reasons why this is done.
CAUTION: If the customer no longer meets the requirements for the gas social benefit(e.g. the person who is the owner of the supply changes) they must inform the supplier. Otherwise, if customers continue to receive the benefit without being entitled to it, a procedure will be activated to recover the sums paid out, for which they were no longer entitled.
