The 13th Chamber of the Council of State (“Council of State”) has held that the dispute concerning the “resource-based support fee” invoices issued by the Enerji Piyasaları İşletme A.Ş. (“EPİAŞ”) constitutes an administrative act and must therefore be reviewed by the administrative courts.
The Council of State’s appeal in the interest of the law regarding the competent court for disputes arising from the “resource-based support fee” invoices issued by EPİAŞ was published in the Official Gazette dated 16 October 2025 and numbered 33049.
The dispute brought before the Council of State concerned the accrual of the resource-based support fee on the invoice issued pursuant to the Procedures and Principles within the scope of EPİAŞ’s activities as the market operator. The court of first instance dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction on the ground that EPİAŞ is a private legal entity, and the Regional Administrative Court hearing the appeal upheld this decision as final.
Upon accepting the appeal in the interest of the law (an extraordinary legal remedy), the Council of State stated that EPİAŞ carries out the relevant market operation activity by exercising public authority and on the basis of powers derived from the Electricity Market Law No. 6446, the applicable Procedures and Principles, and the balancing and settlement framework. The Court held that the act in question constitutes an administrative act subject to judicial review and emphasized that even where an activity is conducted under private law rules, the exercise of public authority may render the act an administrative one.
The Court further underlined that, although EPİAŞ is subject to private law, it may still establish unilateral administrative acts by exercising public authority. It noted that the disputed act was carried out not solely under private law, but under the Procedures and Principles adopted by the Energy Market Regulatory Board – with the approval of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources – pursuant to Article 17/1 of the Electricity Market Law and the Electricity Market Balancing and Settlement Regulation.
Accordingly, the Council of State concluded that the administrative courts have jurisdiction over the dispute, accepted the appeal in the interest of the law, and overturned the regional administrative court’s decision.
You can access the full text of the Council of State’s Decision via this link. (Only available in Turkish.)
