Change electricity or gas provider and apply for the social bonus

Yes. Changing provider is a consumer right, free of charge and without any interruption to your supply. You only need to sign the contract with the new provider: they carry out all the procedures with the distributor. You do not have to notify or cancel with your previous company, because the old contract is automatically terminated when the new one comes into force.

There is no building work or cut because the distributor (the company that owns the cable or pipe reaching your home) does not change. Only the company that sells you the energy and issues your bill changes. The supply point remains the same (identified by its CUPS code, which appears on your bill).

For electricity, the maximum period is 10 working days from signing the new contract, exceptionally extendable by 5 more working days if complex field actions are needed, and the distributor must justify these to the CNMC (art. 18.1 of RD 88/2026). Gas follows a different rule and works differently: RD 1434/2002 gives the distributor a maximum of 6 working days to validate the request (art. 44.3) and, for a household, the change date always coincides with the 1st, 11th or 21st of the month, whichever is closest to that validation (art. 46.2). The legal ceiling for the whole process is 3 weeks (arts. 74.1.t and 81.1.q of Ley 34/1998). For the domestic tariff (2.0TD), no official fee (tasa) can be charged for the change.

As a general rule, there is no penalty. For electricity, a natural person with a 2.0TD tariff can cancel whenever they want without any charge, except in 1 case: a fixed-price contract before its first annual extension, and there the penalty cannot exceed 5% of the estimated energy pending supply, with the burden of proving the damage always on the provider (art. 28.3 of RD 88/2026). For gas, the rule is similar but not the same: the contract of someone entitled to the TUR lasts 1 year with tacit extensions, and during an extension it is cancelled by giving 15 days' notice and without any charge; a penalty is only possible if cancelled before the first extension, with the same 5% limit (art. 38 of RD 1434/2002). Furthermore, that penalty had to appear in the offer in a font that does not differ by more than 10% from the rest of the text (art. 81.1 of Ley 34/1998). Managora reviews your current contract, checks if it has a lock-in period and submits the change for you.

In the regulated market, the price is set by the State and published in the BOE, with no commercial margin. For electricity, it is called PVPC (Voluntary Price for the Small Consumer) and varies every hour according to the wholesale market. For gas, it is called TUR (Last Resort Tariff) and is reviewed every quarter. It is only offered by reference providers (electricity) and regulated providers (gas).

To opt for the PVPC, you must be a natural person or micro-enterprise with a contracted power equal to or less than 10 kW. For the gas TUR, annual consumption must be less than 50,000 kWh and the supply pressure equal to or less than 4 bar.

In the free market, any provider sets its prices and offers (fixed, indexed, by tranches, with added services) and the contract may include a lock-in period. You can switch from the free market to the regulated market, or vice versa, at any time and without penalty for the fact of changing markets.

A key fact: the electricity social bonus is only applied to the PVPC. Therefore, to request it, you must first be in the regulated market with a reference provider. You can compare offers neutrally on the official CNMC comparator.

The electricity social bonus is a discount on the electricity bill for households in a situation of vulnerability. In 2026, it is 42.5% for vulnerable consumers and 57.5% for severely vulnerable consumers, both applied to the PVPC. Households at risk of social exclusion attended by social services that cover at least 50% of the bill can reach 100%.

Basic requirements: being the holder of the electricity contract, the supply being the habitual residence, having the PVPC contracted and a power equal to or less than 10 kW. In addition, you must belong to one of the protected groups: by income level (measured in multiples of the IPREM and the number of household members), large family, or pensioners receiving the minimum pension, among others.

Beneficiaries of the social bonus cannot have their supply cut off (prohibition extended until 31 December 2026). If you are already a beneficiary, you do not have to do any paperwork to keep the 2026 discounts: the reference provider applies them automatically.

Gas does not have its own social bonus for bill discounts. The support for gas, heating and hot water is the thermal social bonus: a single annual payment deposited into the holder's account, granted automatically to anyone who had the electricity social bonus on 31 December of the previous year, and it varies according to the climate zone and the degree of vulnerability. Managora checks if you meet the requirements and applies for the social bonus for you.

The electricity social bonus is requested from a reference provider (not from the distributor or a free market provider). You can submit it via the provider's website, by email or by post.

The usual documentation is: the application form signed by all adults in the family unit, the identity documents (DNI or NIE, the foreigner identity number) of those members, the collective registration certificate (certificado de empadronamiento) at the habitual residence, the family book or equivalent document and, depending on the case, proof of the group (large family title, minimum pension resolution, etc.).

The social bonus is renewed automatically every 2 years in most cases, although some situations require submitting a new application (for example, when the family situation changes or the large family title expires).

Managora gathers the documentation, fills in the form, manages the switch to the PVPC if you are still in the free market and submits the complete file for you to the corresponding reference provider.

For electricity, the change is completed in a maximum of 10 working days from signing. For gas, the distributor validates in 6 working days and the change takes effect on the 1st, 11th or 21st of the month. The social bonus application is resolved by the reference provider once the documentation is received; if any document is missing, they will request it before applying the discount.

If you have a problem (an incorrect bill, an unapplied change or a denial of the social bonus), the complaint follows this order: first, to the provider's customer service, which is obliged to answer you (usually within 1 month); then, if there is no solution, to the competent Administration for energy or consumer affairs of your Autonomous Community. For specific conflicts, you can go to the CNMC.

If your company has been changed without your consent (a practice known as switching without consent), you have the right to return to your previous provider and to report the fact to the CNMC and consumer affairs. Always keep a copy of communications.

Managora submits the complaint for you, follows up and responds to requests until the matter is resolved, without you having to deal with the paperwork.

Real Decreto-ley 7/2026, of 20 March, has extended the extraordinary discounts of the electricity social bonus (42.5% for vulnerable and 57.5% for severely vulnerable) until 31 December 2026, along with the prohibition of cutting off basic supplies to vulnerable households throughout the year.

The thermal social bonus raises its minimum amount for 2026 and remains an automatic single annual payment for those who had the electricity social bonus on 31 December. A budget reinforcement has also been approved to assist more households.

Electricity VAT was reduced to 10% for contracts under 10 kW and for severely vulnerable consumers only between 22 March and 31 May 2026. Upon activation of the automatic review clause, from 1 June 2026 the electricity VAT has returned to 21% (and the Special Electricity Tax to 5.11%). As of the date of this guide, the applicable electricity VAT is 21%.

Changing provider remains free for electricity and gas. For electricity, the maximum period is 10 working days and there is no change fee for the 2.0TD tariff. For gas, the process has not changed: 6 working days for validation and effectiveness on the 1st, 11th or 21st of the month.