Czech rental energy transfer: 2026 move-in checklist

You are receiving the keys, but the electricity or gas contract is still in the landlord’s or previous tenant’s name. A photograph of the meter is essential evidence, not a completed transfer. Coordinate who ends the old contract, who signs the new one, which reading joins them, and when supply responsibility actually changes.

Start with the situation you actually have

• Moving in, supply works: identify the current customer and supplier, agree the target dates, record the meter and submit both sides of the change.
• Moving in, the previous customer is unreachable: ask the supplier for its evidence-based route; do not invent a signature or use the former customer’s account.
• Moving in, supply is disconnected: first ask the supplier or distributor whether this is a customer change, reconnection or a new connection and what technical evidence is required.
• The landlord keeps the contract: define advances, invoices, reconciliation, tariff changes and the response to non-payment in the lease.
• Moving out: do not terminate in isolation; name the next customer, align dates, preserve the closing reading and wait for the final bill.
• A bill or debt does not match your period: dispute the customer, dates and readings in writing instead of netting it informally against rent or deposit.

First decide which payment model the lease uses

• Electricity or gas in the tenant’s name: the tenant contracts with the supplier, pays advances, receives bills, and controls the product.
• Contract remains with the landlord: the landlord pays the supplier and recovers agreed energy payments from the tenant; the lease needs a transparent advance and reconciliation process.
• Water, central heat, and common electricity: these commonly remain building services billed through the landlord or owners’ association rather than being transferred to the tenant.

A direct tenant contract usually makes the tenant responsible for their own consumption and supplier choice. Keeping the contract with the landlord may be practical for a short tenancy, but leaves the tenant dependent on the landlord for tariffs, advances, bills, and refunds. Put the chosen model in the lease instead of deciding it after the keys change hands.

Before handover, identify the current contract

Ask who the current customer is, which supplier serves the point, whether the product is fixed-term, and whether the outgoing customer will cooperate. Get the latest bill—not to inspect their private spending, but to capture the supply-point identifier, meter details, tariff, supplier, and contact route.

Changing the named customer and changing the supplier are not the same project. The supplier sells energy and bills the customer, while the territorially assigned distributor operates the network and meter. ERÚ says a standard supplier change takes at least ten working days, and an existing fixed-term contract may carry an early-exit consequence. If speed matters, first arrange continuous supply and then compare products after the account is correctly in your name.

Use one coordinated timeline

• Before the appointment: obtain both supplier forms, confirm who submits them, and agree the requested contract dates.
• At handover: both parties record the exact same meter identifier and reading in the signed protocol and photograph them.
• Immediately after: submit the old-contract termination and new-contract request together where the supplier process allows.
• Within five working days: ERÚ recommends sending the current reading to the supplier or distributor.
• After submission: preserve confirmation, verify the actual supply start/end dates, and keep paying under the contract that remains active.
• At the end: check the final invoice period, reading, advances, balance, and payment destination.

The handover date may not be the supplier date

ERÚ specifically warns that the protocol signature date and the supply-contract end date normally need not match. Write both down. If you take possession on 1 August but the supplier starts your contract on 4 August, decide who bears consumption for the intervening period and preserve the readings that support it. Never solve a gap by using another person’s online account or pretending to be the named customer.

Coordinate early enough to avoid a supply point without a legal basis for consumption. The ERÚ unauthorised-consumption guidance says consumption without a contract can be unauthorised and can lead to damages and interruption. It also states an important exception: during a supplier change, a gap shorter than ten working days is not unauthorised and the future supplier bills it. Do not assume that exception covers an uncoordinated tenant change. Ask the supplier to confirm the actual registered customer, effective date and treatment of any gap in writing.

Read the new contract before signing it

• Supplier and product name, commodity, supply-point identifier, and start date.
• Fixed or indefinite term, automatic renewal, price fixation, and termination route.
• Unit price, standing payment, regulated components, advance amount, and payment method.
• Who is authorised to act, which contact is used for notices, and whether a broker is involved.
• Whether the document also authorises a supplier change or only a customer transfer.

Do not sign a broad power of attorney merely because it is bundled with a “transfer” form. If a new supplier is proposed, compare the full contract and current ERÚ contract-type guidance rather than treating continuity as permission for any fixed, variable, spot or automatically renewed product.

If the previous customer will not cooperate

Contact the supplier rather than inventing a signature. Processes differ. MMR describes forms normally signed by both customers, while some suppliers accept an alternative declaration plus evidence that the new customer may use the property when the former customer cannot be reached. Ask for the exact supplier-specific route, send the lease and handover evidence requested, and keep a record of the response.

If the point is already disconnected, do not break a seal, replace a meter or switch it on yourself. Ask whether the distributor requires reconnection, inspection evidence or a new connection agreement and who orders and pays for it. Keep the previous customer’s debt separate from your own proposed contract: request the legal and contractual basis before paying any historic amount merely to accelerate the move.

Check the final bill separately from rental services

ERÚ says the former supplier must issue the final bill within 15 days after it receives the consumption data from the distributor; in practice this often reaches the customer roughly one to two months after supply ends. The outgoing customer checks the closing reading and advances. The new customer checks that the same reading opens the new account. A landlord’s water, heat, or building service statement follows a different process covered by our Czech rental service-statement guide.

Repeat the process when you move out

Do not merely cancel and leave. Agree whether the account returns to the landlord or passes directly to the next tenant. Record the final reading, meter number, date, and photo in the rental handover protocol, submit the coordinated documents, give the supplier your future address, and wait for the final bill. Keep this timeline beside the legal lease-end and deposit workflow; returning keys does not itself terminate either contract.