The commercial relations between agents in the gas sector is governed by the Commercial Relations Code (Regulamento de Relações Comerciais - RRC) approved by ERSE, which currently covers both the gas and the electricity sectors, and is applied to the entire national territory.

The regulation covers the following main issues:

• Identification of stakeholders in the gas sector, their activities and roles
• Principles and general rules of commercial relations, including public service obligations
• Commercial relation between infrastructure operators and suppliers, namely for billing and payment purposes
• Customer relations (supply obligations, entering into a contract, invoicing and payment, as well as interrupting and restoring supply)
• Market scheme (contracting modalities, registration of agents, scheme of organised markets and bilateral contracting, choosing and switching supplier, monitoring framework for the operation of gas markets)
• Commercial conditions for network connection
• Measuring, reading and providing consumption data
• Dispute settlement

The implementation of some of the rules established in the RRC depends on the approval of supplementary rules, with a more detailed content and of a procedural nature.

Since  January 1st 2021, the RRC in force applies both to the electricity and gas sectors.  Regulation No 1129/2020 approves the Commercial Relations Code for the Electricity and Gas Sectors, repealing Regulation No 561/2014, of 22 December, and Regulation No  416/2016, of 29 April. Earlier versions of the code are available online at ERSE’s Legal Instruments.

Commercial Relations Code for the Electricity and Gas Sectors (ebook)

Booklet ERSExplica – Commercial Relations Code - Electricity and Gas

Interpretative Note - Scheme of interruption of supply due to the fault of the customer

The implementation of some of the rules established in the RRC depends on the approval of supplementary rules, with a more detailed content and of a procedural nature.

The approval of supplementary rules usually starts with the submission of justified proposals by regulated companies (as recipients of the established obligations) and involves a prior consultation procedure, as well as seeking the opinions of ERSE’s advisory bodies.

The supplementary rules to the RRC currently in force include the following:

• Directive No 12/2022, of 30 June (Profiles of gas consumption and average daily consumption approved by ERSE for the period between July 2022 and June 2023)
• Directive No 13/2022, of 8 June (Approves the first amendment to the Procedures Manual for Overall Technical Management of the National Gas System, approved by Directive No 9/2021, of 12 May)
• Directive No 5/2022 of 31 March (Extension of the period for supplementary supply under Regulation No 951/2021 of 2 November)
• Regulation No 951/2021, of 2 November (Regulation on exceptional measures within the scope of the Electricity Sector and the Gas Sector)
• Regulation No 836/2021, of 7 September (Regulation establishing exceptional measures within the scope of the Electricity Sector and the Gas Sector )
• Directive No 10/2021, of 17 June (Profiles of gas consumption and average daily consumption approved by ERSE for the period between July 2021 and June 2022)
• Directive No 7/2021, of 15 April (Scheme of risk management and guarantees in the Electricity Sector and the Gas Sector)
• Directive No 6/2021, of 15 April (Return of stocks and purchase of RNTG filling gas)
• Directive No 9/2021, of 12 May (Procedures Manual for Overall Technical Management of the National Gas System)
• Regulation No 356-A/2020, of 8 April (Regulation establishing exceptional measures within the scope of the Electricity Sector and the Gas Sector)
• Interpretative Note to Regulation No 356-A/2020
• Regulation No 255-A/2020, of 18 March (Regulation establishing Extraordinary Measures in the Energy Sector due to the Covid-19 Epidemiology Emergency)
• Interpretative Note to Regulation No 255-A/2020
• Q&A on Regulation No 255-A/2020
• Directive No 16/2019, of 6 December (Individual Agent Record Codification)
• Directive No 2/2019, of 7 January (Approves the GTG notice on guarantees within the scope of subscription to the Overall Technical Management of the Gas Sector)
• Directive No 15/2018, of 10 December (Supplier-switching procedures in the electricity and natural gas sectors)
• Directive No 7/2018, of 26 February (Guide for the Measurement, Reading and Provision of Data in the Natural Gas Sector)
• Guide for the Measurement, Reading and Provision of Data in the Natural Gas Sector (e-book).
• Directive No 20/2016, of 26 December (Application of the Procedures Manual for Overall System Management of the Natural Gas Sector)
• Directive No 18/2016, of 27 October (Procedures Manual for Overall Technical Management of the Natural Gas Sector and provisions on the application of its transitional scheme)
• Directive No 6/2015, of 27 April (Provision of pre-contractual and contractual information to electricity and natural gas consumers in Mainland Portugal)
• Directive No 6/2014, of 29 January (Audit to the distribution network operators of the GALP and Tagusgas group within the scope of the provision of market information)
• Directive No 2/2011, of 26 July (Amends the commercial conditions for connection to the natural gas transmission and distribution networks, repealing Order No 11 209/2008, of 17 April, and republishing the universal coding methodology for installations)
• Order No 7094/2011, of 10 May (Amends the general conditions that must be included in natural gas supply contracts between the wholesale supplier of last resort and retail suppliers of last resort, approved by Order No 9178/2008, of 28 March)
• Order No 1550/2011, of 19 January (ERSE approves new general conditions for natural gas supply contracts to be signed between suppliers of last resort and customers with an annual consumption of 10 000 m³ or less)