October 23, 2026
The private electric generators sector topped the list of consumer protection violations during the first ten months of this year, according to the official tally of the Ministry of Economy.
The data, resulting from 19,301 field examinations conducted between the beginning of January and mid-October, showed that 615 arrest reports were registered against generator owners out of 1,022 total arrest reports (equivalent to about 60%). Thus, the generator sector was ahead by a wide margin over violations of food safety, prices, and weights, which together amounted to 335 reports.
In the same context, a security source explained to the “Lebanon 24” website that this high percentage reflects the prevailing tension between subscribers and generator owners. This is due to the increase in the official price by about 76 percent within one year, in addition to additional violations that the Ministry of Economy has repeatedly warned about, including the unjustified imposition of value-added tax and maintenance fees, in addition to collecting prohibited financial allowances from subscribers who rely on solar energy systems.
Although the Ministry referred 877 reports to the judiciary, the source indicated that the numbers raise serious questions about the feasibility of these procedures after the control phase. The Ministry did not announce the number of judicial rulings issued, the value of the fines collected, or whether any of the subscribers recovered the additional money they paid above the official price. As a result, seizure reports remain administrative tools of deterrence rather than effective means of redress.
This reality is reinforced by the Ministry of Economy’s receipt of more than 2,100 complaints, which represents twice the number of organized control reports, which confirms that a large portion of citizens’ complaints are not translated into practical measures, with subscribers resorting to forced payments to avoid power outages, awaiting a judicial process whose duration and end are unknown.
