Petition · past parliament

End the "no use tax" that energy companies charge leading to fuel poverty.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Whether or not you are metered for energy you are charged a daily rate for energy even if you abstain from using it. British Gas charges £0.26 per day for using no gas, which amounts to a "no use tax" of nearly £100 Pounds per year. This means many people are in fuel poverty even when using no fuel.
I phoned British Gas after having no access to my boiler as I waited for my landlord to complete the gas safety inspection. Despite not using gas for three months, I had to pay arrears even though I could not use the gas for three months. It is a mandatory fee whether you use gas or not. They put the fee in the small print and fail to make it clear they are charging nearly £100 Pounds/annum just to be able to have the option of consuming energy. This perpetuates fuel poverty and needs to stop.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.

We understand that you're concerned about having to pay charges when you're not using energy, but we're not sure what action you'd like to see.

You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you would like the Government or Parliament to do.

Timeline

10 Oct 2017 Petition opened for signatures
23 Oct 2017 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 23 Oct 2017

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.