A citizen was stunned when he saw a bill for energy consumption of around 50 thousand euros arrive at his home. But no, you don’t have to pay it. For a simple reason, in short: after two years the statute of limitations kicks in. The case is not isolated. The consumption dates back several years, but the bill arrives only today, often with amounts of thousands of euros. It is the classic “adjustment hardship”, a situation that often puts families, companies and condominium administrators in difficulty. When faced with invoices like this, the first impulse is to check the expiration or printing date of the document. Be careful, however: if the balance arrives beyond two years, it must be contested and not paid.
The balance after more than 2 years
Clarifying this point is the lawyer of Immobiliare.it Giuseppe Donato Nuzzo: the lawyer cited a recent decision of the Bologna court (sentence number 5838 of 29 September 2026) which establishes a clear rule for consumer protection. The two-year limitation period for bills begins to run from the last day of the energy supply period, and not from the moment the supplier company chooses to issue the invoice. This is a crucial rule for families, businesses and condominiums.
Well, the 2018 budget law, then integrated by law number 160 of 2019, reduced the limitation period for credits for the supply of electricity, gas and water services to two years. This protection applies to domestic users (including individual condominiums and established condominiums); microbusinesses (businesses with fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet of less than two million euros); professionals. For electricity users, the short limitation period concerns all invoices due after 1 March 2018.
The 50 thousand euro bill
In the case examined by the Bologna court, the energy selling company had obtained a provisionally enforceable injunction for a sum exceeding 50 thousand euros, referring to adjustments for energy consumption made several years earlier, but accounted for and invoiced with a considerable delay. The debtor had lodged an opposition to the payment order, against which the supplier company argued that the credit right had arisen and become payable only with the issue of the balancing invoice, and that therefore the limitation period should be calculated starting from the date of issue of the invoice itself.
The Bologna court rejected this approach, specifying three main points:
- the provision of the service and accrual of the credit: the credit for energy consumption arises as the administration takes place. The invoice or bill is a mere accounting or reporting document, not a legal act;
- the identification of the “dies a quo”, i.e. the initial day from which a legal or contractual term begins to run: in balancing invoices, the limitation period begins to run from the last day of the consumption period indicated in the bill for that specific quota of energy supplied, and not from the date of issue of the balancing invoice issued by the supplying company;
- the uselessness of delayed billing for statute of limitations purposes: a manager cannot arbitrarily extend the statute of limitations by postponing billing or recalculation of readings. If we reasoned the other way around, in fact, it would allow supplier companies to easily circumvent the two-year limitation period, which a law introduced specifically to protect consumers.
Injunction revoked
In the dispute examined, since the payment request from the supplier company arrived more than two years after the actual supply of the consumption subject to recalculation (and “in the absence of suitable acts interrupting the limitation period, pursuant to article 2943 of the civil code”), the Bologna court accepted the consumer’s opposition and revoked the injunction. That bill doesn’t need to be paid.
The terms established by Arera
On the other hand, the integrated billing text (Tif) of Arera (the regulatory authority for energy, networks and the environment) establishes that each bill must be issued within 45 calendar days calculated from the last day of consumption charged in the same bill. Consequently, to verify whether or not an accounting document falls within the “shadow cone” of the two-year prescription, the last day of the consumption period covered by the invoicing must be more than two years and 45 days prior to the date of issue of the invoice.
Furthermore, again according to the regulation established by Arera, sellers of electricity, gas and water have the obligation to clearly highlight in the bill the amounts for which it is possible to object to the two-year prescription. At the same time, the supplier must attach or make easily available a pre-completed form that the customer can send to exercise his right and not pay those sums.
How the prescription works
The ruling of the Bologna court provides a solid legal basis for the protection of consumers and condominium administrators with respect to adjustment invoices relating to utilities in the common areas (lighting, elevator driving force, centralized systems, etc.). It should be specified that the prescription does not operate ex officio: based on article 2938 of the civil code it must be expressly contested by the debtor party. It means that if you receive a request for payment for consumption dating back more than two years, it is not enough to ignore the bill, but you must contest it by claiming that it has expired.
What to do?
In such cases, therefore, a formal preventive complaint is advisable. Before the supplier company takes legal action, it is necessary to send the supplier a formal complaint via certified e-mail or by registered letter with return receipt, invoking the prescription of the amounts relating to consumption exceeding two years. We must then pay attention to debt recognition and installment payments. Signing a request for installments or making a partial payment without formulating an express reservation or a written dispute can be interpreted as recognition of the debt, with the consequent loss of the right to contest the statute of limitations already accrued.
If, as in the case decided by the Bologna court, the supplier has already notified an injunction, an objection must be lodged before the competent judge within the peremptory deadline of forty days from notification, objecting to the statute of limitations.