If you are aware of facts, evidence or information about offences that have already been committed or are highly likely to be committed, or that are being carried out, which fall under Decree-Law n.º 109-E/2021, of 9 December, which creates the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism and establishes the general regime for the prevention of corruption, or Law n.º 93/2021, of 20 December, which establishes the regime for the protection of whistleblowers, you can report them to ERSE.

The Internal and External Whistleblowing Channels, which are independent and autonomous from other communication channels, are used to receive and follow up on the complaints provided for in Decree-Law n.º 109-E/2021, of 9 December (RGPC), and Law n.º 93/2021, of 20 December (RGPDI), ensuring the completeness, integrity and confidentiality of the complaint, preventing access by unauthorised persons and allowing it to be preserved.

Whistleblowers who wish to report an offence based on information obtained in the course of their professional activity can make a complaint through these channels.

Whistleblowers can be, within the scope of Law n.º 93/2021, of 20 December:

•  Workers in the private, social or public sector;
•  Service providers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, as well as any persons acting under their   supervision and direction;
•  Holders of shareholdings and persons belonging to the administrative or management bodies or     supervisory bodies of legal persons, including non-executive members;
•  Volunteers and trainees, paid or unpaid. 

The complaint can be made on the basis of information obtained:

•  In a professional relationship, which has since been terminated;
•  During the recruitment process or;
• Another phase of pre-contractual negotiation of an established or unestablished professional relationship.

If, because of your professional connection to ERSE, you are aware of facts, evidence or information about offences that have already been committed or are highly likely to be committed, or that are being carried out, which fall within the scope of the GDPR, you can report them internally.
If, because of your professional connection to another organisation, you are aware of facts, evidence or information about offences that have already been committed or are highly likely to be committed or are being carried out, which fall within the scope of the GDPR, and which may or should be known to ERSE, you can report it through the external channel.A whistleblower can only report through an external reporting channel when:

a) There is no internal whistleblowing channel;

b) The internal whistleblowing channel only accepts complaints from employees, but not from the whistleblower;

c) You have reasonable grounds to believe that the offence cannot be effectively known or resolved internally or that there is a risk of retaliation;

d) he/she initially lodged an internal complaint without being informed of the measures envisaged or adopted following the complaint within the time limits provided for in Article 11; or

e) The offence constitutes a criminal offence or an administrative offence punishable by a fine of more than 50,000 (euros).

Complaints will be closed, and no action will be taken, when the offence complained of is minor, insignificant or manifestly irrelevant; the complaint is repeated and contains no new elements of fact or law that justify a different course of action from that taken in relation to the first complaint; or the complaint is anonymous and no evidence of an offence is drawn from it.

How to submit a complaint:

1. In person (not anonymous by nature, although confidentiality is guaranteed)
Booking an appointment using the form or the Whistleblowing Platform, expressly stating that you wish to make a complaint. If the request for an appointment is made via the Whistleblowing Platform, a contact telephone number and/or email address must be provided. Face-to-face communications will be recorded and a consent form must be signed.

            Energy Services Regulatory Authority
            Rua Dom Cristóvão da Gama 1- 3.º
            1400-113 Lisbon
            DDSJ Room

2. Registered mail (guarantee that it can be anonymous)
Send correspondence to:   

            Whistleblowing (CONFIDENTIAL)
            Energy Services Regulatory Authority
            Rua Dom Cristóvão da Gama 1- 3.º
            1400-113 Lisbon

In the case of a complaint via the internal channel, please use the following template (click to download).

3. Complaints Platform (verbal or written)
    Access the Platform