What happens if the meter reading is not taken?

If the meter reading is not taken due to total or partial inaccessibility (i.e. the customer or another person has to provide access to the place where the meter is installed), the distributor leaves a special notice inviting the customer to contact their supplier to take a self-reading.
If two consecutive attempts to take the reading fail and the distributor does not have a valid self-reading available, the distributor must try again in the month following the second failed attempt, possibly considering different time slots. In any case, in the absence of a valid reading or self-reading, the distributor informs the supplier of its estimate, calculated using all previous available validated readings or self-readings and the standard withdrawal profile (i.e. the consumption trend curve based on season and customer type).
In addition, the supplier informs the customer why the reading was not taken. This is done in accordance with the terms specified in the contract (free market).

For all points in the gas sector with a reading frequency other than monthly with a daily breakdown, the supplier must provide customers with a method for collecting the self-reading data communicated by the customer within the time window specified on the bill.

The supplier must also notify the customer of acceptance or non-acceptance of the self-reading data at the time of its collection or, if an immediate response is not possible, within the following 4 working days. The self-reading data will be accepted by the supplier unless it is obviously incorrect (in that it differs by at least one order of magnitude from the last available actual reading) and transmitted to the distributor within 4 working days. The seller must inform each end customer at least once a year of the option to communicate a self-reading.

(Act 463/2016/R/com - TIF - Articles 7 and 9-Resolution 04 August 2016–AREA)