Eir has announced to its customers that from February 20, there will be an additional monthly charge of around €6.00 to anyone who wants to receive their bill in paper form.
The energy provider is looking to cut its C02 emissions by going entirely digital, and it’s not the first company to do so in a bid to meet climate targets.
However, one Liveline listener, Ann-Marie, raised her concerns about the move and said she doesn't have access to a computer, but she also cannot afford the additional funds to pay for a paper bill in the post.
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She rang in to talk to Joe Duffy on Liveline on Wednesday afternoon after she received the ‘shocking’ text from Eir which said they would be charging her €5.99 per paper bill from February 20, 2023.
She said: “At 12:31 this afternoon, I got a text from Eir to say that from February 20 that they were going paperless and that if I wish to still receive my bills by paper in the post it would cost me €5.99 per month.
Joe pointed out that it would equate to an additional €72.00 payment each year, simply to receive a paper form of your bill.
Anne-Marie said she is “absolutely disgusted” by the change and said, “in this day and age, even though the young people are all into computers and technology, there are a lot of people like me who are not.
“I like to get my bill in the post, I like to go to the post office and pay my bills there”.
She went on to say: “I don’t use a computer and I don’t want to use a computer and I sent the email to say I think it’s terrible and I think it’s discriminative.
“When I signed up with Eir 40 years ago it was not in my contract to say that they can take it away, you know if I’m paying for their service, it’s part of the contract that they send me a bill to pay them.
“So I should be allowed to go to the post office on a Friday, pay my bills, and come out happy”.
Ann-Marie said: “In this climate, I have no idea what the reason is behind it. It’s absolutely shocking that they’re allowed to do this”.
Although Eir specifically mentions an ‘age-friendly’ approach - where some customers will not be charged for paper bills - Ann-Marie said she did not fall into that category.
Joe then raised the question of whether or not they will begin to cut people off for not having access to a digital bill, because they won’t be able to pay.
And in response, Ann-Marie said: “I assume they will because they won’t be paid”.
Another listener shared a letter they received in the post announcing the changes. They said they will be changing provider, and wrote: “Sent to me. To receive bill, €5.99 + cost of stamp I assume #liveline I work on laptop all day.
“Do not want to do my house, personal stuff on-line. Too much time on-line. Whenever I eventually retire, will go off-line entirely. Need to change provider now.”
However, a spokesperson from Eir clarified the rules of the upcoming changes to the Irish Mirror and said: "As part of its corporate sustainability plan to minimise paper usage, eir is encouraging its customers to switch to paperless billing from February 2023.
"We have been contacting customers with details on how they can switch to paperless billing through the eir app, our website, or by contacting our customer care team.
"Customers who wish to continue to receive paper bills will be charged €5.99 a month from February 2023, with the exception of our Age Friendly customers over the age of 65, or those with accessibility issues, who can continue to avail of paper billing free of charge.
"Eir has in place a dedicated Age Friendly care helpline for customers over the age of 65 and current wait times for eir care lines average at approximately two minutes for those seeking to get in touch.
"We are committed to the creation of a greener, more sustainable Ireland. Since 2019 eir has removed 1.9 million sheets of paper from its retail operations and removed more than 18.5 million sheets of paper by customers moving to paperless. The next step of the journey is moving more customers to paperless billing".
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