You receive a reminder from a supplier in Greece, or your neighbor tells you that the water has stopped running. You had totally forgotten that the bill for your Athens home had been mailed months ago.

For owners of overseas properties, not paying a Greek utility bill is not the problem, it’s not reading to send the payment in time. All bills are sent to the property by post in paper form, so switching every supplier to e-bill is the first step to deal with Greek utility bills from abroad. Members who use our Home Watch service can also have all their suppliers’ bills paid for them by Home Watch Athens as a separate service to their monthly home checks. The payment would be added to their Home Watch bill and charged at an additional reasonable fixed fee each time.

Here we explain how you can pay your Greek electricity, water and gas bills from abroad. In addition to that, we explain what you can do when a certain method of payment does not work from abroad. Lastly, we explain what happens to your bills if you are away from Greece for a long time and do not pay them.

First step: switch every bill to an e-bill

First, switch all suppliers to send e-bills to your email address instead of printing and sending paper copies by post to your address in Greece.

  • DEI PPC (electricity): To activate e-bill for PPC/DEI go to dei.gr. After reading the PPC e-bill FAQ you choose your customer category, fill in the form and then you receive an activation code via SMS and an activation link via email. You will need: your partner code from your bill, your Greek tax number (AFM), and your ID or passport number. You might want to check if a non-Greek mobile number is accepted for the SMS code. Activating e-bill for PPC/DEI might require the help of someone who is based locally.
  • EYDAP (water): Go to the eEYDAP website in order to switch to e-bill. In order to register new users for eEYDAP need to provide their TAXISnet codes. After that the PDF-bills are distributed to the email addresses that have been provided by the users in order to read them, free of charge.
  • Other electricity and gas suppliers: These can be set up for online accounts by their suppliers. For these providers, payment by paper should cease and bills be sent to your email as e-bills.

Make sure the email address registered to each supplier’s online account is one that you actually read.

Paying electricity from abroad (PPC and other suppliers)

The largest electricity supplier PPC, in its online payment web page, mentions the possibility to pay using your credit card or through IRIS (bank-to-bank transfer) at no extra charge. If the amount of your bill is €200 or more, you can even pay it in up to 6 installments, all of them to be paid by credit card and all of them to be interest-free.

Two cautions for owners abroad:

  • Foreign-issued cards: Maybe foreign issued cards are accepted, but I would first test to pay a lower amount in a non urgent situation to see if they accept foreign issued cards. Also, be careful as card payments are only accepted until the payment due date.
  • IRIS: The IRIS (bank to bank) payment system is also supported, but again, that requires a Greek bank account.

Protergia: Payment by credit/debit card via the electronic payment code, without charge (the suppliers that accept credit/debit cards are indicated on the bill). Note: The terms and conditions for payment by card on the supplier’s website (page for payment by card) refer to the types of cards accepted. Elpedison has become Enerwave from 12/11/2025 onwards.

Paying water (EYDAP) from abroad

EYDAP is responsible for the supply of water in most areas of Athens and it offers the following options for payment of water bills:

  • Pay online by card
  • IRIS, through participating Greek banks
  • E-banking, through cooperating banks
  • Direct debit, through listed Greek banks

However, you can pay without registering for the online service. EYDAP’s online payment for customers without an online account requires the 18-digit invoice number (no spaces and no hyphen) and the amount of the invoice to be paid.

Water supplies in buildings are frequently shared between the owners and their payment in the form of service charges is recorded on their bill by the administrator of the building.

Paying gas from abroad

Gas is paid to your gas supplier, not the pipes operator Enaon EDA, previously EDA Attikis for the Attica region. Your supplier’s name and payment details should be on your bill. Gas suppliers publish online payment pages for their customers where e-bill can also be set up.

Paying by transfer from a non-Greek bank: the payment code

This option is also set out on PPC’s live payment methods page, under the option ‘International’. There PPC sets out how the option of SEPA transfer from countries within the EU and EEA as well as Switzerland can be used to pay your PPC bills using the 12 digit e-payment code on the front of your bill in the description of the payment. It’s really important that all payments include this code so that the supplier can match your payment to your bill. Once made, allow a few days for payment to clear and reach your supplier’s account before the due date.

The account details are not provided here as they are subject to change, and can be found on the PPC live payment methods page, on a supplier’s bill payment page or from the relevant supplier’s customer service department. As with online card payments, allow a few working days for payment by bank transfer to arrive and be processed by the supplier. Hence, it’s wise to send payment by this method before the due date for payment.

Paying water bills depends on the individual water supplier. As far as EYDAP payment is concerned, payment by credit card or through a Greek representative is the best solution. However, other water suppliers (e.g. EYATH in Thessaloniki) may have online payment solutions or specific bank transfer details on their websites.

Direct debit: You will need a Greek bank account

Again, direct debit is one of the most reliable ways to pay your bills on time. But it often requires a Greek bank account, even when the supplier (like EYDAP) is listed. Check with your other suppliers (like your gas and electricity suppliers) whether they will accept payment from a non-Greek bank account too.

If you do have a Greek bank account, direct debits for your repeating bills could be set up. However, you don’t need to open a bank account in Greece just to pay your bills online by transfer or by card. Someone in Greece should keep an eye on the balance of your account with the Greek bank to make sure there is enough money there to cover your bills.

What happens if a Greek utility bill goes unpaid

Please do not worry if by chance a payment doesn’t make it in time. However, do ensure that all are up-to-date as soon as possible.

Regarding overdue electricity bills, you have at least 20 days from the issue of the invoice to settle the amount due (25 days if the invoice is posted to you). Moreover, the amount that you have not paid is added to the amount that you owe for the subsequent period. However, it is not automatically disconnected after the first missed bill, as the supplier proposes a payment agreement in case of a second consecutive overdue bill. In case a disconnection order is issued, however, you have 10 days to pay or agree on a repayment plan. In case you settle the amount owed or agree on a repayment plan within this 10-day period, the disconnection order is cancelled on the same day.

Water: This bill needs to be paid quickly. EYDAP mentions that supply to the apartment may be stopped 3 days after the due date and then there are reconnection charges to pay. Furthermore, late payment of a bill also bears interest. Water is the bill that the owner of the flat needs to pay quickly.

Yes, it is possible for serious problems to arise from an empty flat with the water off for an extended period of time. Such problems can affect the drains, the boiler and even plants and tanks left to dry out. The problem with an “empty flat with no water” is just that: problems can hide behind the simple message and a visit to check supplies are on should be part of any visit to an empty flat.

Letting someone in Greece handle it for you

Three ways to get your Greek bills paid

Whether or not you can get around to managing this yourself once the supplies have been set up, some owners prefer to have their bills paid by someone locally. The suppliers’ portals, different codes to be inputted and bill due dates all being in a different time zone can be a pain to manage.

  1. A family member or friend who is resident in Greece (till they move, get busy or lose interest).
  2. A power of attorney. This can be granted to someone to handle all of your dealings with all of your Greek suppliers. Details of power of attorney can be found here. Naturally, any such document will need to be drawn up by a lawyer, and it will have certain implications that you should consider.
  3. A local service. Home Watch Athens can deal with all your Greek bills, along with general administration work and building representation work. This service is a member service and is charged separately to the main administration and building representation work that we provide as part of membership. We can confirm that payment of bills is all that is required and this can be done by someone in Athens as necessary.

“Most owners who live abroad aren’t worried about paying a Greek bill. What worries them is never seeing a bill in the first place. Reading the letter and paying the bill for the owner is all the work involved in this task.”

Yanis, Founder of Home Watch Athens

But if you have bought recently, have just inherited a property in Greece, read why owners abroad need local representation and then look at moving utilities into your name after you have set up payment.

This material is intended as general guidance only, and is not for use as legal or tax advice. For that, we recommend that you consult with the appropriate suppliers, as well as a competent lawyer of your choosing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I pay my Greek electricity bill from abroad?

Yes, online by card or IRIS through the supplier’s portal, or for PPC via SEPA credit transfer including reference to the payment code of each bill.

Do I need a Greek bank account?

Not for card payment or a supported transfer. To set up direct debit to pay bills regularly (by drawdown from your account to pay bills when due), you may need a Greek bank account.

What happens with bills addressed to the empty flat?

Switch to e-bill with each supplier, so bills arrive by email.

What happens if I miss a bill?

The Greek utility supplier will normally send you written reminders that you are overdue with payment. After this the supplier can ask for disconnection of supply. In the case of water supply disconnection can take place even sooner than for electricity supply.