EnergieCosts and contracts · Austria
Instalments and additional payments: check electricity and gas payments
By EnergieFinder · Sources checked:
The short answer
Instalments are payments towards the eventual bill. Annual billing compares costs with payments made. A low instalment therefore does not prove a cheap tariff; an additional payment requires checking consumption, prices and credited payments.
Put annual costs beside advance payments
Record billed costs and credited payments separately. Check the billing period, consumption and price changes. An additional payment can relate to several of these factors. Arbeiterkammer also explains excessively high new instalments and recommends clarifying their basis with the supplier.
Worked example: the payment does not change the tariff
An explicitly fictional example: €960 billed total costs minus €840 credited payments leaves €120 due. If €1,020 had been credited, there would be €60 credit. This assumes complete payments and no other outstanding items. These amounts are neither current tariffs nor forecasts of your bill.
A template for an instalment enquiry
Use your own details in this template: “Please explain the basis of my instalment for invoice [number], covering [period]. Which expected annual consumption, prices and discounts were considered? My documents show [different value]. Please review the instalment.” For payment difficulties or disputes, use current E-Control or Arbeiterkammer advice; this guide does not replace an assessment of your contractual rights.
Your checklist
Tick off items as you prepare. Your ticks are not saved.
Read the original sources
The factual information was checked against these sources. Checklists and labelled examples are our own presentation. Your supplier’s current documents govern your contract.
Your next step
Prepare your comparison here. Compare current electricity and gas tariffs in the E-Control tariff calculator.