The Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors has accused Bord Gáis of anti-competitive practice because it has withdrawn an instalment payment plan option from independent contractors.
The association has also accused Bord Gáis of driving up prices for customers and forcing a significant portion of the plumbing and heating business into the black market.
Until 2010, gas customers who had their boilers installed or serviced by any registered contractor could pay the charges through their gas bill and spread the cost over a period of time.
However, then Bord Gáis signed a service and installation contract with multinational contractor Sierra – meaning that only installations and services organised through Bord Gáis could be added to customers bill and paid by instalments.
Anyone using an independent contractor can now only pay upfront in a lump sum.
The Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors says withdrawing the payment plan option from them is unfair and anti-competitive.
It claims that Bord Gáis is now charging up to 50% above the market rate for boiler installations paid for using its payment plan.
The association says cash-strapped customers are now being forced to use black market traders who are offering much cheaper installations and services.
In response to the claims, Bord Gáis Energy has said that it offers a finance scheme to its customers only to cover the cost of their boiler installation when carried out by a Bord Gáis service provider.
In a statement, Bord Gáis Energy said its installation providers only have about a 10% share of the available market.
It said that since February 2011, it has been offering a payment plan to customers through its Home Services arm and does not offer any financing facility to the company which carries out the installations - multinational contractor Sierra.
Bord Gáis Energy has also challenged the APHCI's claim that it charges 50% more for boiler installations than independent contractors.
It charges €2,900 for a boiler replacement, where as the APHCI charges €2,000-€2,200.
This means Bord Gáis actually charges 40%-45% more.
Bord Gáis has said it previously offered a financing scheme to independent contractors, but that this was done on a strictly limited basis in order to get more customers connected to gas as the network was expanding rapidly.
Bord Gáis says it offers financing to its customers as part of its service but does not operate as a finance house for independent contractors.
