Gas company starts giving money back 12 years after court order

TWELVE years after a Cordoba judge originally sentenced Gas Natural to give users’ money back, clients are finally starting to receive payment.

More than 22,000 people in Malaga City, Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Benalmadena were overcharged by Gas Natural Andalucia between 1996 and 2005.

The extra charges were made due to two clauses in their contracts, one for taking out the service and another for pipe maintenance, which, although still in place today, had not at the time been approved by the Junta de Andalucia regional government and were therefore declared abusive and null.

Although the sentence from Cordoba was ratified by the Spanish Supreme Court seven years ago, come last December payments had still not been made, causing the Cordoba court to issue an order to stop obstructing the process and make the payments.

The company has started to shell out between €30 and €300 per contract, with an estimated total of €2.5 million due to be paid. As so much time has passed and not all beneficiaries are likely to be found, a website (www.eajaen.org) has been set up where citizens who believe they may be due payment can check for their names.