Article 22 8.

Member States shall ensure that final customers, final users, people affected by energy poverty, vulnerable customers and, where applicable, people living in social housing have access to simple, fair, transparent, independent, effective and efficient out-of-court mechanisms for the settlement of disputes concerning rights and obligations provided for in this Directive, through an independent mechanism such as an energy ombudsperson or a consumer body, or through a regulatory authority. Where the final customer is a consumer as defined in Article 4(1), point (a), of Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 11 ), such out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms shall comply with the requirements set out therein. Out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms already existing in Member States may be used for that purpose, provided they are equally effective.