Involuntary prepayment meter rules: phase 1 process evaluation

This process evaluation examines the development, implementation and what stakeholders believe is working well or less well of our strengthened protections against involuntary prepayment meter (PPM) installations. 

Findings of the process evaluation were: 

• Positive stakeholder views of policy development, with stronger engagement than in previous policy processes, and positive views of monitoring and compliance arrangements. 
• The rules appear to have strengthened protections for consumers in vulnerable situations and reduced adverse PPM-related incidents. 
• Early evidence suggests harms associated with PPM use have fallen, including a 36% reduction in severe self-disconnection and higher customer satisfaction among consumers in vulnerable situations. 
• Suppliers faced operational and cost challenges implementing the rules, contributing to variation in application and some evidence of precautionary behaviour and inconsistent use of vulnerability information.
• Household debt and arrears increased significantly following the February 2023 moratorium and have remained elevated since the introduction of the rules. 

Next steps 

We are currently undertaking a full impact evaluation of the rules. This evaluation will assess, and where possible attribute: 

1. the extent to which the rules have reduced harms for protected consumers in vulnerable situations
2. affected debt and debt-related outcomes
3. resulted in any wider or unintended effects