As a public service provider, HEP Elektra will automatically continue the supply of more than 2 million HEP ODS's customers under the same conditions as before. Contracts will not be amended, and the customers will continue to pay their bills by using the existing, already received payment slips. The establishment of
HEP Elektra d.o.o. on 2 November 2016 meets the obligation set under the Amendment Act of the Electricity Market Act (Article 47, paragraph 2) regarding the separation of the network and supply business activities which had been carried out by HEP Operator distribucijskog sustava d.o.o (HEP Distribution System Operator - DSO). The founder of the newly established company is Hrvatska elektroprivreda d.d.
In terms of supply, HEP Elektra is a legal successor of HEP Operator distribucijskog sustava d.o.o. (
HEP ODS). Until 2 November, HEP Operator distribucijskog sustava was the supplier of customers within the public service thus performing a dual role – of a distribution system operator and the supplier.
As a supplier of electricity as a public service,
HEP Elektra will supply only household customers which opt for or are automatically already using the supply as a public service within the universal service. As per the regulated terms and conditions for guaranteed supply, HEP Elektra will also supply only those end customers which do not belong to the household category and which are left without a supplier provided certain conditions.
As of November 2016, the customer supply for more than 2 million metering points under household category (holding an 89% market share in the household supply in Croatia) as well as 76,000 other customers was taken over by
HEP Elektra.
All customers which have been supplied by HEP ODS to-date will continue to use the supply service under the same conditions as before.
Contracts will not be amended, and the customers will continue to pay their bills by using the existing, already received payment slips. Customers will continue to receive a single bill i.e. the electricity invoice issued by HEP Elektra will continue to include the charge for network use as a HEP ODS's income.
In order to ensure the best possible customer service, a transitional period has been foreseen during which HEP Elektra staff will be joined by HEP ODS employees for the purpose of customer communication. This implies that customers can continue to use all existing communication channels (phone, e-mail, personal contact in the existing HEP ODS branch offices). New (additional) customer communication points will be established in four regional centers of HEP Elektra (Zagreb, Split, Osijek, Rijeka). In order to provide its customers with a faster and a simpler method of communication very soon, a single contact center will be set up.
HEP ODS continues to carry out meterings, consumption billing, metering point maintenance, and other field activities. Pursuant to the Electricity Market Act, HEP Elektra employees will, even following the expiry of the transitional period, act as a mediator between customers and HEP ODS i.e. provide customers with basic information regardless of the business activity to which their query refers.
