Magnetic influence on the electricity meter cost the consumer over 9 thousand hryvnias: court decision
The Dnipro District Court of Zaporizhzhia city considered in simplified civil proceedings a case filed by JSC "Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo" to recover the cost of unaccounted electrical energy. The plaintiff requested to recover from the consumer the remaining cost of unaccounted electricity determined based on the inspection results and the review of the act on violation of the Rules of the retail electricity market. The court satisfied the claim.
Essence of the case
The plaintiff stated that it distributes electrical energy to the consumer’s facility based on a public contract for the provision of electricity distribution services and an open personal account. After the Rules of the retail electricity market came into force, the consumer did not notify disagreement to join the contract terms, continued to use electricity, paid for it, and therefore was considered to have joined the contract terms.
On July 21, 2024, during a technical inspection, representatives of the distribution system operator detected violations of the Rules of the retail electricity market. In particular, activation of the indicator of physical fields' influence on the electricity meter, installed according to the sealing act, as well as the built-in indicator of constant magnetic or electronic fields influence, was recorded. The violation was found during the technical inspection, demonstrated to the consumer, and formalized by an act on the violation, which was drawn up in the presence of and signed by the consumer. A second copy of the act was handed to the consumer, and the act indicated the date of the commission meeting to review the violation acts.
Based on the act review, the distribution system operator’s commission recognized the consumer’s involvement in the violation and approved the calculation of the volume of unaccounted electricity amounting to 1238 kWh and its cost of 12,414.71 UAH. A copy of the commission meeting protocol, the calculation of the cost of unaccounted electricity, and the payment invoice were sent to the consumer by registered mail. Subsequently, the consumer voluntarily paid 3,000 UAH but did not settle the remaining debt of 9,414.71 UAH nor contacted the company with a proposal to conclude a restructuring agreement. Due to this, JSC "Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo" applied to the court demanding recovery of the remaining cost of unaccounted electricity and court fees.
Court’s position and conclusions
The court noted that according to the Law of Ukraine "On the Electricity Market" and the Rules of the retail electricity market, the fact of the consumer joining the contract terms is, among other things, the fact of electricity consumption and its payment. Furthermore, the distribution system operator has the right to conduct technical inspections, draw up violation acts, and determine the volume and cost of unaccounted electricity based on such acts. After examining the case materials, the court established that the plaintiff confirmed the fact of the defendant’s electricity use, the technical inspection, the drawing up of the violation act, the review of this act by the commission, and the determination of the volume and cost of unaccounted electricity in accordance with the Rules of the retail electricity market.
The court also took into account that the consumer voluntarily partially paid the amount determined by the commission but did not fully settle it. At the same time, the court noted that the defendant did not submit a response to the claim, did not provide evidence of the calculation’s groundlessness, did not refute the fact of violation of the Rules of the retail electricity market, and did not confirm the absence of debt.
The case materials contained no evidence indicating the plaintiff’s actions were unlawful or the cost of unaccounted electricity was incorrectly determined. Under these circumstances, the court concluded that the consumer, by violating the Rules of the retail electricity market, caused losses to the energy supplier in the form of the cost of unaccounted electricity, which remained unpaid at the time of the case consideration. Therefore, the court recognized the claim as justified and recovered in favor of JSC "Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo" 9,414.71 UAH for the cost of unaccounted electricity and 2,662.40 UAH for court fees.
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