A woman refuses to pay DTEK 32,770 hryvnias for the previous owner - the court has made a decision.

The woman refuses to pay the previous owner's debt for unaccounted electricity amounting to 32,770 hryvnias. According to her, she was not a consumer of DTEK's services. This is stated in the decision of the Darniцьkyi District Court of Kyiv, published on December 18, 2023.

On March 27, 2015, a contract for the use of electrical energy was concluded between a man and DTEK, based on which electricity was supplied to the house. On November 17, 2022, DTEK representatives discovered a violation of the electricity usage rules, specifically, the absence of an electricity meter that was installed and sealed on March 27, 2015. A corresponding act was drawn up based on this finding. According to the calculations made by the commission, the value of the unaccounted electricity amounted to 32,770 hryvnias, which the company seeks to recover from the citizen.

On June 26, 2023, a response to the claim was submitted to the court by the man's representative, requesting the court to deny the claim for the recovery of the debt from him, as he has not been the owner or user of the premises since April 2019, for which he provided appropriate documents. On July 12, 2023, a motion was filed with the court by DTEK's representative to substitute the improper defendant. The motion was justified by the fact that, according to the information contained in the State Register of Property Rights, the owner of the house has been the woman since August 30, 2019.

On October 26, 2023, a response to the claim was received in court, in which the woman's representative requested the court to deny the claim in full, considering the following. Indeed, since August 30, 2019, she has been the owner of the land plot and the house. However, she has never lived in the specified house and was not a consumer of electricity; moreover, she did not dismantle the meter No. 0207058, which was installed back in 2015 when the man was the owner of the house. The electricity consumption is carried out by the original defendant, who did not cease to reside in the house after transferring ownership. This fact is confirmed by her filing a lawsuit in court demanding the removal of obstacles to ownership, use, and disposal of the property by evicting someone from the premises. She was unaware of the inspection and the drafting of the violation act No. 00371 dated November 17, 2022, as well as the protocol of the commission’s meeting No. 1100 dated December 27, 2022, regarding the review of the said act. Given the above, the original defendant should be the proper party to the case, and the funds that are the subject of this dispute should be collected from him.

What did the court decide?

The court granted the claim. The woman will have to pay the debt to the private joint-stock company "DTEK Kyiv Electric Networks" in the amount of 32,770 hryvnias according to the violation act No. 003171 dated November 17, 2022.

"At the same time, the court considers that the defendant's representative, noting that the proper defendant in this case is indeed the former owner who lived there and still resides there, and therefore filed a lawsuit to eliminate obstacles to the use of the property, did not provide the court with a logical explanation as to why, during the 4 years from August 2019 to September 2023 (the date of filing the lawsuit), the defendant did not deny his residence in her property and use of it, nor did she inquire about the status of utility bills, including electricity, only stating that the defendant allegedly orally requested the man to vacate. The court also rejects the defendant's representative's arguments that he should contact the plaintiff and inform him that she has become the owner of the property at that address and terminate the electricity supply contract with the plaintiff as the successor, as such arguments are not consistent with the provisions of current Ukrainian legislation. The defendant's representative did not provide the court with evidence of appealing the commission's decisions from December 27, 2022, regarding the review of the violation act from November 17, 2022, No. 003171 and the calculation of the volume and cost of electricity consumed in violation of the rules of electricity supply. Considering the above, the amount of debt for unaccounted electricity according to the specified violation act is to be recovered from the defendant," the court emphasized.