Administrative inertia represents a significant problem in the relationship between private and public administration. The substitutive power, regulated by art. 2, paragraph 9-bis and following of law no. 241/1990, was introduced as a multilevel remedy to ensure timely administrative action and strengthen the principle of loyal collaboration and good faith between private and public. This paper investigates the implications of art. 2 paragraph 9-bis on a systematic level with particular reference to compensation and damages for delay in adopting the administrative single-case decision. Some critical issues will be highlighted that derive from certain positions of the administrative judge that do not seem to take a necessary balance between administrative responsibility and the burdens on the citizen.