Before you use the gas in a flat you are renting or buying, register the subscription in your own name and apply for the transfer before the distribution company detects use under someone else's name. The consumer-law rule on contract copies was checked on the official Turkish legislation portal on 28 October 2026.
Do I have to put the gas subscription in my own name?
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority's consumer warning of 13 March 2017 states the rule plainly: a tenant or a buyer must register the natural gas subscription in their own name. Using gas under someone else's subscription — whether the previous occupant's, the owner's, or a relative's — is treated as unauthorised use, usulsüz kullanım. This is not limited to regular billed accounts; it applies to prepaid card meters as well.
The warning put the penalty for unauthorised use at 90 Turkish lira before VAT on 13 March 2017. This figure dates from 2017 and is very likely out of date; ask the distribution company for the current amount. The obligation, however, does not expire with the figure. As soon as you have the lease or the title deed, the gas account has to be in your name. Leaving the subscription in another person's name means you remain in the situation the warning describes as unauthorised use.
Who is left with the previous owner's unpaid gas debt?
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority's warning addresses the fear directly: if the gas subscription stays in the owner's name when the flat is rented, the unpaid gas debt remains with the owner as the subscriber. You, as the tenant, do not inherit that debt just by living in the flat.
Prepaid card subscriptions add a further responsibility. With a card meter, the owner also answers for meter errors and undercounting. That is why the authority recommends cancelling the subscription when moving, selling, or renting out the property. Ask the owner to do that as part of the handover, so the old account is closed before you open your own. Until that cancellation or transfer is complete, the owner remains the person responsible for the debt.
Which documents to have ready when you apply
Requirements can differ between suppliers. According to one resident's account on a review site (checked in October 2026), a gas company opened an account with just an identity document and a title deed (tapu) — no lease, no DASK earthquake insurance policy.
The same account (checked in October 2026) says the electricity supplier wanted more: a DASK earthquake insurance policy, address registration, the title deed (tapu) and the lease. This shows why you should not assume the gas company's list applies to electricity.
This account, checked in October 2026, is one person's experience, not a universal checklist. Before you go to any supplier, call or visit and ask which documents they require for a new subscription in your situation — tenant or owner, first application or transfer. The papers you gather from one account may not match what your local branch asks for.
How to take over the gas line before a penalty applies
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority's warning offers a clear way to avoid the penalty for unauthorised use: the penalty is not applied if you apply and transfer the subscription to your own name before the distribution company detects the violation. That turns the order of your first days in the flat into the deciding factor.
Do not use gas under the previous subscriber's name while you wait for paperwork or a convenient time. Every day the account stays in someone else's name is a day the distribution company could find it. Start the transfer as soon as you have the right to the flat — the lease signed or the title deed in your name.
The warning does not say when the distribution company might detect the violation. The safe course is to treat the application as the first errand, not a later one. Submit it before you turn on the heating or the cooker.
Prepare for the installation check before the transfer completes
On a change of gas subscriber, the distribution company must fully check the internal gas installation. It can carry out this check itself or arrange for it to be performed on its behalf. This is a mandatory step in the transfer process, not an optional inspection, so do not assume that because gas was working before, the check will be skipped.
The check looks specifically for a leak, an unauthorised intervention or a faulty chimney. If any of these defects is found, it must be repaired before the transfer is complete. That means you cannot start using gas under your own subscription until the installation passes this inspection. Who arranges and pays for the repair is not set out here; ask the distribution company before the check.
Ask for your copy of the subscription contract
Article 52 of Law No. 6502 on Consumer Protection requires the supplier to give the consumer a copy of the written or distance subscription contract, on paper or on a durable medium.
When you register the gas subscription in your own name, you are entitled to receive this copy. It is the written record of the terms you agreed to. If you are not given a copy on paper or on a durable medium, ask for one and keep it with your transfer papers.