FCVic has made a submission to the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) consultation on its Targeted Consumer Reforms and Regulatory Efficiency Draft Decision Paper, which proposes amendments to the Energy Retail Code of Practice. Informed by feedback from the FCVic Essential Services Network, the submission supports most of the proposed reforms as sensible changes that reduce regulatory burden without materially reducing consumer protections. However, FCVic is disappointed that more substantive reforms on family violence protections and closed account debt have been deferred, and calls on the ESC to publish a clear timeframe for reconsidering them.

The submission strongly supports clarifying that retailers must comply with their own published complaints handling and dispute resolution procedures. It argues that any move towards principles-based obligations must come with minimum expectations, monitoring, and accountability. FCVic also raises concerns about removing start and end meter reads from bills for customers with interval meters, and about reducing non-digital payment options for older Victorians and people experiencing digital exclusion. The submission is supported by WEstjustice.