Greece plans to decouple municipal fees from electricity bills, introducing direct payment system from 2028

Decoupling from electricity bills

Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios announced a legislative amendment that paves the way for the collection of municipal fees to be split from electricity bills. The amendment was introduced during the debate on the new Local Government Code, which concludes with a vote in the Plenary today, 26 June 2026. Currently, municipal charges are bundled with power bills issued by the Public Power Corporation (DEI), a long-standing practice that has drawn complaints from energy suppliers, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE) and local authorities themselves. The government now intends to move to a direct payment model, akin to the system used for the ENFIA property tax.

“to have a system of payment of municipal fees not through DEI but also through other means”

How the new system will work

The technical improvement provides for a Presidential Decree, to be issued with the consent of the Central Union of Municipalities and Communities (KEDE) and the ministries of the Interior, Finance and Digital Governance. This decree will establish the legal framework for an alternative collection mechanism. The model cited by the minister is the current ENFIA property tax, which taxpayers pay directly through the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), rather than through utility companies. A necessary precondition is the creation of an appropriate collection infrastructure by the municipalities themselves. Livanios told parliamentary correspondents that direct payment of municipal fees is expected to be feasible from the beginning of 2028.

Local election rule tweak

In a separate improvement to the same bill, the minister also addressed the single-round municipal election system. If a ticket, together with supplementary votes, receives less than 42 percent, the majority it holds in the municipal council will be slightly reduced. Livanios illustrated the shift with an example: instead of a council split of 15–10, it would become 14–11, describing it as a modest step towards a more proportional system.

“if a ticket, together with supplementary votes, gets below 42 percent, the majority it holds in the municipal council will be reduced a little. Instead of, for example, 15–10, it will be 14–11. There will be a slight shift of the ‘three-fifths’ towards a more proportional system.”