A man refuses to pay DTEK 5,227 UAH without a re-examination of the meter. The court's decision on the matter is pending.

A man noticed a malfunction in his meter. After examining the device, DTEK issued a bill for 5,227 hryvnias, which he refuses to pay. The citizen requests a re-examination of the meter. This is stated in the decision of the Selydove City Court of Donetsk region, published on December 5, 2023.

The man is the owner of a house and a consumer of electricity services. From June 22, 2015, to July 19, 2015, the electricity meter inaccurately calculated the consumed electricity. As a result, he approached the Selydove RES with a request for a technical examination of the electricity meter. In November 2015, he reported that after the examination of the electricity meter on August 31, 2015, no external interference in the operation of the meter was found, and he was advised to pay 5,227 hryvnias for the consumed electricity within a month. Disagreeing with the results of the examination, the citizen appealed to the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine, requesting a review of the examination. On January 28, 2015, the chairman of the commission of the information and consulting center of PJSC "DTEK Donetskoblenergo" responded, stating that the commission considers the act from August 31, 2015, invalid and insists on conducting a re-examination of the electricity meter. DTEK has taken no action to conduct a re-examination of the electricity meter.

"At the time of the issuance of the absentia decision in the case on August 16, 2017, a re-examination of the meter had been conducted (meter type CO-EA05MSh5/50 imp/kW 3200, 2009 model), which is confirmed by examination act No. 2654 dated June 16. The case materials contain evidence of the dispatch of a letter (No. 201 dated May 19, 2016) indicating the place, date, and time of the re-examination of the electricity meter; however, the letter was returned with the note 'returned after the expiration of the storage period.' The letter was sent by registered mail to the valid address to consider it duly notified, as the receipt of the mentioned letter by the addressee is beyond the sender's control, and in this case, the court's jurisdiction. This indicates that at the time of the issuance of the absentia decision, the re-examination of the meter had already been performed. Therefore, while the subject of the dispute is absent, the claim requirements are unfounded and cannot be satisfied," - stated DTEK. | |7|

What was the court's decision?

The man's claim was partially satisfied. The court recognized the actions of the joint-stock company "DTEK Donetskoblenergo," represented by the Selydove RES, as unlawful regarding the referral of the electricity meter type CO-EA05M1 5/50A imp/kW 3200, 2009 model, for a repeated mechanical examination to verify the accuracy of the calculations.

"The court established that notification No. 201 dated May 19, 2016, referenced by the defendant, was not delivered to the plaintiff due to the expiration of the storage period, and from the mentioned notification, the date of the re-examination is indicated as May 26, 2016. However, as determined from the case materials, the re-examination of the electricity meter No. 594043 was conducted on June 16, 2016, according to act No. 2654 without the consumer's presence, and also almost a month after the dispatch of the mentioned notification. No. 594043 lacked the date and time of its conduct and was already after the preparation of act No. 2564 dated June 16, 2016, regarding the re-examination of the meter. Therefore, the claim requirements in this part should be satisfied. The issue of the obligation of the defendant to conduct a re-examination of the electricity meter does not fall within the court's jurisdiction and is a discretionary authority of PJSC "DTEK Donetskoblenergo," thus the claim requirements in this part cannot be satisfied," the court emphasized.