Expansion of the list of vulnerable electricity consumers (CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries) - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

New categories of vulnerable electricity consumers added to CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries:

1.    families with dependent children up to 18 years old who receive a child benefit from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service and with an annual gross family income up to € 19.500.
2.    recipients of the Mobility Allowance Scheme for Patients under Regular Dialysis Treatment.
3.    beneficiaries of a special monthly pension from the Patient Relief Fund.
4.    peritoneal nephropaths.
5.    people suffering from multiple sclerosis.
6.    people suffering from larynx cancer who have had laryngectomy.
7.    persons who have undergone a heart transplant.
8.    people with Raynaud syndrome.

Old categories of CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries, which have been differentiated::

9.    recipients of the allowance to pensioners with low incomes provided by the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (no condition of being over 70).
10.    five member family or family with 3 or more dependent children that receive child benefit from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (the income criterion of € 51.258 has been deleted).

Old categories of vulnerable who remain beneficiaries of CATEGORY 3B:

11.    beneficiaries of the guaranteed minimum income.
12.    recipients of the Public Assistance from the Social Welfare Services.
13.    recipients of severe motor disability allowance.
14.    recipients of care allowance for paraplegic persons.
15.    recipients of care allowance for quadriplegic persons.
16.    recipients of special allowance for blind persons.

You can see the detailed list of CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries here.

It is emphasized that the above concerns exclusively the vulnerable consumers who can benefit from CATEGORY 3B and is not the same as the vulnerable electricity consumers who are beneficiaries of other benefits (e.g. special tariff 08).

It is reminded that for CATEGORY 3B the "Pre-Approval Application" is submitted by the person in whose name the electricity bill of the residence is issued and not by the vulnerable electricity consumer (if he/she is a different person).

It is very important that you take the time to study the provisions of CATEGORY 3B and the Grant Scheme.

Do not rely on (fragmentary) information from third parties, nor expect that information about a Grant Scheme can be given over the phone. Any Grant Scheme includes special terms, conditions and obligations, which you should review carefully, primarily for your own protection.

Check again at the list of CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries and make sure that you are indeed among the beneficiaries.

It is reminded that:

• The right to submit an application in CATEGORY 3B have people who, either they or another person with whom they live permanently in the same house and with whom they are related in the first degree, is a vulnerable consumer of electricity.
• The "Pre-Approval Application" for CATEGORY 3B is submitted by the person in whose name the electricity bill of the residence is (not by the vulnerable consumer, if he/she is a different person).
• For the purposes of this Scheme, the first degree of relationship includes: parents, children, grandparents, spouse, sibling, in-laws, son-in-law.

Please be careful when submitting your "Pre-Approval Application" and read all information/guidance that appears on your screen.

You have the right to submit a new "Pre-Approval Application" which will be examined based on the new criteria. Follow the procedure you followed last time.

All "Pre-Approval Applications" that have already been submitted and their examination is pending (i.e. a final Pre-Approval or Rejection answer has not yet been received), will be examined based on the expanded list of vulnerable consumers.

Applicants do not need to take any action.

As long as the evaluation of your application for CATEGORY 3A is not yet complete, you can request to withdraw your application from CATEGORY 3A and then submit a "Pre-Approval Application" for CATEGORY 3B.

You will need to act immediately since once the evaluation of the CATEGORY 3A application is completed you will not be able to withdraw it.

To withdraw an application you have already submitted, after logging in to the system, send us your request in writing via the Contact Form.

Vulnerable electricity consumers are either benefitiaries of certain benefits, or people suffering from certain health conditions.

Consequently, in order to be considered a vulnerable consumer, he or she must either receive one of the specific benefits referred to CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries from the competent authority, or be registered in the records of the Health Insurance Organization (HIO) as suffering from one of the specific health conditions referred to CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries.

The Management Committee of the RES and EC Fund confirms, following a request to the competent authorities that grant the specific benefits, whether the specific benefit had been granted within the immediately preceding period (e.g. month) to the "vulnerable consumer" or/and confirms upon request to the HIO that the "declared vulnerable consumer" is indeed included in the organization's records as suffering from a specific health condition.

The RES and EC Fund does not have a list of all potentially "vulnerable electricity consumers". In order to confirm that a person is a CATEGORY 3B beneficiary, a "Pre-Approval Application" must be submitted so that the Fund's Management Committee can then submit a request for information/confirmation to the competent authorities and/or the HOI specifically for that specific person declared as vulnerable consumer.

The Management Committee of the Fund does not examine (and is not able to examine) whether any person meets the conditions to become a recipient of any of the specific benefits listed for CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries, nor whether they suffer from a specific health condition. Therefore, before submitting a "Pre-Approval Application" for CATEGORY 3B, the applicant should ensure/confirm that the vulnerable consumer to be declared has already become a recipient of one of the specified benefits (already received the benefit) or is registered in HOI as suffering from one of the specific diseases.

First, carefully read the reason for rejection of your "Pre-Approval Application". It is common for "Pre-Approval Applications" to be rejected due to incorrect submission (eg. incorrect declaration of applicant and/or vulnerable consumer details). In such a case, you can submit a new "Pre-Approval Application" with the correct details.

In case the reason for rejection is that "the vulnerable electricity consumer you had declared, has not been confirmed by the competent authorities to be included in the list of CATEGORY 3B beneficiaries" but you still believe that he/she falls under vulnerable consumers, you should contact yourself, directly with the competent Service from which you believe you receive the specific allowance and/or the HOI for more information or to submit a relevant request.