Regulation 2 Amendment of section 36 (disclosure of information to gas and electricity suppliers etc.) of the Digital Economy Act 2017

(1)

Section 36 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 is amended as follows.

(2)

In subsection (3)—

(a)

omit the “or” at the end of paragraph (e);

(b)

after paragraph (f) insert—

“(g)

in the case of a disclosure to a licensed gas supplier, a debt relief requirement imposed by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority—

(i)

in the exercise of its powers under section 23(1)(b) of the Gas Act 1986^f1 or section 1(2)(a) of the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Act 2018 (cap on standard variable and default rates)^f2, and

(ii)

for purposes that include assisting people living in fuel poverty by improving their financial well-being, or

(h)

in the case of a disclosure to a licensed electricity supplier, a debt relief requirement imposed by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority—

(i)

in the exercise of its powers under section 11A(1)(b) of the Electricity Act 1989^f3 or section 1(2)(a) of the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Act 2018, and

(ii)

for purposes that include assisting people living in fuel poverty by improving their financial well-being.”.

(3)

In subsection (11), before the definition of “domestic customer” insert—

““debt relief requirement” means a requirement to reduce or cancel sums owed by, or otherwise to assist, domestic customers who—

(a)

in a case within subsection (3)(g), are in debt to the supplier in respect of the supply of gas to them;

(b)

in a case within subsection (3)(h), are in debt to the supplier in respect of the supply of electricity to them;”.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1986 c. 44. Section 23 was substituted by S.I. 2011/2704. Section 23(1)(b) was amended by S.I. 2024/706.
f2: 2018 c. 21.
f3: 1989 c. 29. Section 11A was inserted by section 35 of the Utilities Act 2000 (c. 27) and substituted by S.I. 2011/2704. There are other amendments not relevant to these Regulations.