Power network operator DEDDIE is about to be hit with mass lawsuits filed by consumers’ watchdog INKA on behalf of thousands of customers claiming to have been wrongfully fined for electricity theft.
In an announcement last week, the General Consumers’ Federation said it received more than 30,000 complaints in 2025 from consumers claiming they were fined by DEDDIE for allegedly using electricity they were not entitled to, even though the operator had not conducted any inspections to confirm the supposed power theft.
“In 2025, over 30,000 cases of electricity theft were reported by the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network (HEDNO), throughout Greece, of which almost none were caught red-handed, most were hypothetical,” INKA said in a statement.
It added that “because the evil has now gone too far, transforming electricity from a social good into a production of fines, with the profiteering of both external teams (contractors) and HEDNO, the INKA General Consumers Federation of Greece is taking a step forward.”
Consumers posted on social media that they were accused and fined for electricity theft for summer or village houses closed and uninhabited throughout the year, while other complained that empty houses of deceased owners or leasers were accused of theft and even consumers who had decreased electricity consumption.
Also on social media, some accused contractors of giving bonus to employees who would report electricity theft.
The most common forms of electricity theft involve tampering with meters or illegally tapping into someone else’s supply line.
INKA said it has forwarded all the complaints it received to energy regulator RAAEY and called on consumers facing similar problems to come forward, preferably by emailing at [email protected].
