Act No. 87/2025 Coll., i.e. the amendment known as “LEX RES III”, added numerous provisions to the Energy Act (No. 458/2000 Coll.) which are related to the monitoring of the state of competition on the retail electricity and gas market by the Energy Regulatory Office (“ERO“), the so-called security of supply index and the comparison tool for comparing offers for the supply of electricity and gas.^[1]

Based on the empowering provisions of the Energy Act, ERO has drafted a so-called monitoring decree^[2] to implement these provisions of the Energy Act.^[3] Some of its provisions are summarized below.

 1.    Monitoring the state of competition on the retail electricity and gas market^[4]

According to the provisions of Section 2(1) and (2) of the draft monitoring decree, as of 1 January 2026, electricity and gas traders as well as electricity and gas producers will submit to ERO the following information on a semi-annual basis:

a) Information on the portfolio of points of delivery;
b) Information on sales;
c) Information on the addition of points of delivery; and
d) Information on the contractual conditions applied.

This obligation, which implements Section 11(1)(n) of the Energy Act, applies to entities that supply electricity or gas to at least 1,000 points of delivery on the last day of a given half-year belonging to customers:

a) who are in the capacity of consumers or self-employed natural persons with an annual electricity consumption of up to 20 MWh, in the case of electricity traders or electricity producers; or

b) who are in the capacity of consumers or self-employed natural persons with an annual gas consumption of up to 63 MWh, in the case of gas traders or gas producers.

2.    Security of Supply Index

The draft monitoring decree further describes the procedure for determining the security of supply index of electricity and gas traders^[5], building on the new provisions of Section 30(2)(s) and Section 61(2)(q) of the Energy Act. Traders are then obliged to publish the value of their security of supply index.^[6]

In this context, it should be noted that if the value of a trader’s currently published security of supply index falls below the 70% threshold or if the trader in question does not publish this value at all, consumers and self-employed natural persons^[7] have the right to terminate the fixed-price electricity or gas supply contract.^[8]

In view of the above and the threat of administrative sanctions^[9] for failure to set or disclose the value of the security of supply index, electricity and gas traders should ensure that they comply with all the requirements related to the security of supply index contained in the Energy Act and the monitoring decree, which in this context is expected to take effect from 15 September 2025.

3.    Information on the electricity or gas supply offers compared by the benchmarking tool

As of 1 October 2025, the Energy Act (Section 17j) will newly regulate the so-called comparator tool administered by ERO, which has been used to compare electricity and gas supply offers since November 2023.^[10] The key-stone obligation of electricity and gas traders has been effective since 1 August 2025, from which date traders are obliged to submit to ERO information on offers of electricity or gas supplies that are the subject of the aforementioned comparison tool.[11]

According to § 4 of the monitoring decree, the electricity and/or gas trader must provide ERO with information on offers of electricity or gas supplies within 5 working days from the date of their publication or change. However, for the first 30 days after the date of effect of the monitoring decree (i.e. after 15 September 2025), this obligation will operate according to the transitional provision contained in Section 6 of the monitoring decree. According to this provision, it will then be sufficient to transmit information on already published and valid offers until 15 October 2025, when the trader must separately transmit to ERO information on:

• offers that were published before the date of entry into force of the monitoring decree (i.e. before 15 September 2025);
• offers that were published after the date of entry into force of the monitoring decree until 15 October 2025.

The electronic form on ERO’s website is used to submit the information which traders are required to upload via a dedicated interface. In this electronic form, the relevant trader shall indicate, for example, the characteristics of the product offered in relation to the duration of the commitment or the customer group to which the product is addressed, the definition of the contractual and other documents associated with the offer and, ultimately, a description of the pricing arrangement governing the offer (e.g. fixed price offer or dynamic pricing offer).

Although the mechanisms and obligations described above do not have a direct antecedent in European Union law, the Explanatory Memorandum to the draft monitoring decree refers to the wording of Article 60(4) of the Directive (EU) 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market in electricity, according to which “Member States shall establish appropriate and effective mechanisms for regulation, control and transparency in order to prevent any abuse of dominant position and unscrupulous behaviour, in particular to the detriment of consumers.”^[12]

Thus, by referring to the content of the explanatory memorandum to the draft monitoring decree, it can be said that by implementing the above-mentioned mechanisms, the legislator and ERO are trying to respond to the recent energy crisis of 2021 and 2022 and in particular to how the energy crisis affected the “smallest” customers on the electricity and gas market. Beyond the already mentioned Directive, these institutes also apply to the gas market. Only time and practice will tell whether these measures will be sufficient to protect customers against any unforeseen developments such as the previous energy crisis.

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[1]     See e.g. Sections 11(1)(n), 17j, 30(2)(s) and 30(4) or 61(2)(q) and 61(3) of the Energy Act.

[2]    The full title of the proposal is rather long and reads as follows: ‘Draft Decree on the submission of information for monitoring the state of competition on the retail electricity and gas market, the level of retail electricity and gas prices and the contractual conditions applied, on the method of determining the value of the trader’s reinsurance index and on the provision of information on offers for the supply of electricity or gas compared by a benchmarking tool (Monitoring Decree)’. The draft together with the explanatory memorandum is available here.

[3]    The authorisation is found in Section 98a(2)(q) to (s) of the Energy Act.

[4]     The provisions containing the obligations listed in this point 1 will take effect from 1 January 2026, although the remaining provisions of the Decree are to take effect as early as 15 September 2025.

[5]    Section 3 of the draft monitoring decree.

[6]    If the value of a trader’s hedge index is higher than 70%, the trader concerned does not have to disclose its specific value, but only the fact that its hedge index is higher than 70%.

[7]    A self-employed natural person in this context means a self-employed natural person within the meaning of Section 11a(1) of the Energy Act, i.e. a self-employed natural person consuming electricity from low voltage or with an annual gas consumption of up to 630 MWh.

[8]    See Section 11a(11) of the Energy Act.

[9]     This is an offence within the meaning of Section 91(5)(v) or Section 91(11)(n) of the Energy Act, for which a fine of ‘up to CZK 50 000 000 or 1% of the net turnover achieved by the licence holder for the last completed accounting period (…)’ may be imposed on the basis of Section 91(17)(b) of the Energy Act.

[10]   This instrument is available here.

[11]    Sections 30(4) and 61(3) of the Energy Act

[12] Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules for the internal market in electricity, as consolidated.

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This material is for general information on current topics only, it is not advice. It does not take into account any special circumstances, financial situations or special requirements of the addressees. Recipients should therefore always seek appropriate professional services for the information provided. Notwithstanding the careful compilation of this material, bpv Braun Partners s.r.o. advokáti, its partners, associates or co-operating solicitors and tax advisers cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein and accepts no responsibility for acting or refraining from acting on the basis of the information contained in this material.