A resident of Kyiv region is suing DTEK over a debt of 31,413 hryvnias. The court has reached a decision on the matter.

Employees of DTEK found a violation at the man's address, which involved unauthorized connection of electrical installations to the grid. He is required to pay a debt of 31,413 hryvnias, but he refuses. This is stated in the decision of the Baryshivka District Court of Kyiv Oblast, published on February 23, 2024.

On September 3, 2021, DTEK employees discovered the fact of unauthorized connections to electrical installations, current receivers, or wiring to the electrical network, violating the accounting scheme. The volume of electrical energy not accounted for due to these violations amounts to 7,842 kWh, totaling 31,413 hryvnias. On December 12, 2022, DTEK reduced the claim amount, considering that the man voluntarily paid 23,689 hryvnias, thus requesting to recover the remaining amount of 7,723 hryvnias for the unaccounted electricity consumed and the court fees.

The man submitted a response to the claim, stating that DTEK incorrectly calculated the days for which the volume of unaccounted electrical energy was charged - 165 days. However, according to clause 2 of paragraph 8.4.8 of the Rules for the Retail Electricity Market, the number of days during which unaccounted electrical energy was consumed is determined as no more than the number of working days in the six calendar months preceding the day of the violation detection. The days from March 22, 2021, to September 3, 2021, amount to 116, thus the calculation was made incorrectly. On April 12, 2021, he was forced to pay 23,689 hryvnias to connect his house to electricity, but this amount is the debt for electricity consumption, which is precisely what "Kyiv Regional EC" is demanding from him. Given that the calculation of the cost of unaccounted electricity was made incorrectly, he requests the full dismissal of the claim.

On September 29, 2022, the man filed a counterclaim, indicating that on April 12, 2022, he paid 23,689 hryvnias to the account of JSC "Kyivoblenergo," the successor to which is JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks." However, this amount is the debt for electricity consumption charged to him by LLC "Kyiv Regional EC" as of January 1, 2022, totaling 23,689 hryvnias. Thus, two legal entities are claiming the indicated amount: JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" and LLC "Kyiv Regional EC," and he is paying this amount twice: to JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" on April 12, 2022, and to LLC "Kyiv Regional EC," to which, due to debt restructuring, he has already paid 16,285 hryvnias. In total, he has paid 39,974 hryvnias. He disagrees with the debt amount for consumed electricity of 23,689 hryvnias, as the receipt indicates a payment of 924 hryvnias. Consequently, the citizen requests compensation for damages amounting to 23,689 hryvnias by recovering it from JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks"; to prohibit LLC "Kyiv Regional EC" from collecting 7,404 hryvnias from him, and to compensate him for losses of 16,285 hryvnias by recovering this amount in his favor from LLC "Kyiv Regional EC."

JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" provided a response to the claim, requesting the dismissal of the counterclaim on the grounds that JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" is the new name of JSC "Kyivoblenergo." Due to the restructuring of the electricity market from January 1, 2019, JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" does not supply electricity but continues to distribute it through the electrical networks of consumers in Kyiv Oblast as a distribution system operator. The supply of electricity to the man since January 1, 2019, is carried out by LLC "Kyiv Regional Electricity Supply Company," which is an independent economic entity and has contractual relations with him for the supply and payment for consumed accounted energy. A technical inspection on September 3, 2021, revealed violations of paragraph 4 of paragraph 8.4.2 of the Rules for the Retail Electricity Market, approved by the resolution of the National Commission for State Regulation in the Spheres of Energy and Utilities No. 312 dated March 14, 2018, specifically unauthorized connection of electrical installations to the electrical network with violations of the accounting scheme. The calculation of the cost of unaccounted electricity was determined at the commission meeting on September 22, 2021, amounting to 31,413 hryvnias. On April 12, 2022, the citizen paid 23,689 hryvnias to JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks" as compensation for damages, which resulted in a reduction of the claim against him; therefore, there were no violations of his rights by JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks."

What was the court's decision?

The court granted the claim. From the man, the cost of unaccounted electricity resulting from the violation of the Rules for the Retail Electricity Market in the amount of 7,723 hryvnias and court fees of 2,270 hryvnias will be recovered in favor of the private joint-stock company "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks." The court fully denied the citizen's counterclaim against the private joint-stock company "DTEK Kyiv Regional Networks" for compensation of damages.

"The plaintiff proved his claims with proper and sufficient evidence, which should be satisfied in the final amount of 7,723 hryvnias. The defendant's position regarding the assertion that the calculation of material damage was incorrectly made by the plaintiff, claiming that the damage should only be considered for working days, is critically assessed by the court, as it is based on regulatory documents. Paragraph 10 of paragraph 8.4.8 of the Rules for the Retail Electricity Market stipulates that for consumers who do not have contractual relations with the system operator, and for household consumers, a working day is considered a calendar day. Thus, the court is convinced that the calculation of damages was correctly made by the plaintiff. The plaintiff has not proven the existence of damages caused by JSC "DTEK Kyiv Regional Electric Networks," and his assertion that he was forced to pay 23,689 hryvnias to connect electricity to his residential house indicates that he accepted the violation of the rules for accounting electricity. The court sees no grounds for compensation of the damage amount," the court emphasized.