"Hardly affordable"

800 euros back payment for operating costs

Instead of going into the piggy bank, the bills are currently going into back payments for many.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Many people are currently receiving bills for gas and operating costs for the past year. And for many, the shock is almost as great as the amount they have to fork out. Tenants' associations and the Chamber of Labor are currently registering calls for help on an unprecedented scale in Upper Austria.

The telephones are red-hot - the employees of the Chamber of Labor (AK) and the tenants' association have not experienced such a rush for a long time. "We did expect there to be more inquiries this year, but we didn't expect so many," says Nicole Hager-Wildenrotter from the tenants' association. The reason for the many phone calls is the annual bills for gas and operating costs.