Switching natural gas supplier (no penalty)

Legal basis and things to bear in mind

• Framework in force: Ley 34/1998 (Hydrocarbons Sector Act) + RD 1434/2002. Gas is NOT governed by RD 88/2026, which covers electricity only: they are two separate regimes and the deadlines do not match.
• The switch is FREE and your supply is never cut off: art. 57 bis.i) of Ley 34/1998, the right to change supplier at no cost whatsoever.
• The customer does not choose the switch date. For annual consumption below 100,000 kWh, which covers every household, it always falls on the 1st, 11th or 21st of the month, and the distributor picks the one closest to validation (art. 46.2 RD 1434/2002).
• Lock-in: the contract of anyone entitled to the TUR lasts one year at most, with tacit renewals. During a renewal you can terminate on fifteen days' notice at no charge; a penalty is only possible if you terminate before the first renewal, capped at 5% of the forecast billing of the variable energy term (art. 38 RD 1434/2002). And that penalty had to appear in the offer in type no more than 10% different from the rest (art. 81.1 Ley 34/1998).
• At a pressure of 4 bar or below, the holder's consent is valid by any means that leaves a record, including by phone or online, but the supplier must keep the evidence and the Oficina de Cambios de Suministrador may demand it (art. 44.6 RD 1434/2002).
• Entitlement to the TUR: individual consumers at a supply pressure of 4 bar or below with annual consumption BELOW 50,000 kWh. Residential owners' associations and public residential buildings are entitled with no consumption or pressure limit if they meet art. 93.2 (individual heating meters or heat cost allocators).
• The outgoing supplier has a maximum of six weeks to send the final settlement of the account (art. 57 bis.n of Ley 34/1998).
• The physical distribution company does NOT change.
• Natural next steps: cambio_comercializadora_electrica, reclamacion_energia, bono_social_electrico.