The regulatory authority shall have the following duties:
(a) fixing or approving, in accordance with transparent criteria,transmission or distribution tariffs or their methodologies;
(b) ensuring compliance of transmission and distribution systemoperators, and where relevant, system owners, as well as ofany natural gas undertakings, with their obligations underthis Directive and other relevant Community legislation,including as regards cross-border issues;
(c) cooperating in regard to cross-border issues with the regulatory authority or authorities of the Member States concernedand with the Agency;
(d) complying with, and implementing, any relevant legally binding decisions of the Agency and of the Commission;
(e) reporting annually on its activity and the fulfilment of itsduties to the relevant authorities of the Member States, theAgency and the Commission. Such reports shall cover thesteps taken and the results obtained as regards each of thetasks listed in this Article;
(f) ensuring that there are no cross-subsidies between transmission, distribution, storage, LNG and supply activities;
(g) monitoring investment plans of the transmission systemoperators, and providing in its annual report an assessmentof the investment plans of the transmission system operatorsas regards their consistency with the Community-wide network development plan referred to in Article 8(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2009; such assessment may includerecommendations to amend those investment plans;
(h) monitoring compliance with and reviewing the past performance of network security and reliability rules and setting orapproving standards and requirements for quality of serviceand supply or contributing thereto together with other competent authorities;
(i) monitoring the level of transparency, including of wholesaleprices, and ensuring compliance of natural gas undertakingswith transparency obligations;
(j) monitoring the level and effectiveness of market opening andcompetition at wholesale and retail levels, including on natural gas exchanges, prices for household customers includingprepayment systems, switching rates, disconnection rates,charges for and the execution of maintenance services andcomplaints by household customers, as well as any distortionor restriction of competition, including providing any relevant information, and bringing any relevant cases to the relevant competition authorities;
(k) monitoring the occurrence of restrictive contractual practices, including exclusivity clauses which may prevent largenon-household customers from contracting simultaneouslywith more than one supplier or restrict their choice to do so,and, where appropriate, informing the national competitionauthorities of such practices;
(l) respecting contractual freedom with regard to interruptiblesupply contracts as well as with regard to long-term contractsprovided that they are compatible with Community law andconsistent with Community policies;
(m) monitoring the time taken by transmission and distributionsystem operators to make connections and repairs;
(n) monitoring and reviewing the access conditions to storage,linepack and other ancillary services as provided for inArticle 33. In the event that the access regime to storage isdefined according to Article 33(3), that task shall exclude thereviewing of tariffs;
(o) helping to ensure, together with other relevant authorities,that the consumer protection measures, including those setout in Annex I, are effective and enforced;
(p) publishing recommendations, at least annually, in relation tocompliance of supply prices with Article 3, and providingthose to the competition authorities, where appropriate;
(q) ensuring access to customer consumption data, the provisionfor optional use, of an easily understandable harmonised format at national level for consumption data and promptaccess for all customers to such data under point (h) ofAnnex I;
(r) monitoring the implementation of rules relating to the rolesand responsibilities of transmission system operators, distribution system operators, suppliers and customers and othermarket parties pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 715/2009;
(s) monitoring the correct application of the criteria that determine whether a storage facility falls under Article 33(3) or (4);and
(t) monitoring the implementation of safeguards measures asreferred to in Article 46;
(u) contributing to the compatibility of data exchange processesfor the most important market processes at regional level.
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