Owners of destroyed and damaged homes will no longer receive gas transportation bills, even if they had significant consumption volumes in previous years.
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In Ukraine, owners of private houses and apartments that have been rendered unsuitable for safe gas supply due to the war will no longer pay for gas delivery. For the entire period that a home is without gas, people are also exempt from the obligation to submit meter readings monthly, and in some cases, from the costs of maintaining internal household gas networks.
This decision was made by the National Commission for State Regulation in the Spheres of Energy and Utilities (NERC), adapting the current consumption rules to the requirements of legislation on utility bill calculations.
Who is eligible for exemption from paying for gas transportation under new rules
The new regulations apply to owners of housing damaged by Russian shelling. This includes apartments and houses that have sustained such destruction that using gas appliances there has become dangerous. In such situations, the charge for gas delivery is terminated.
Previously, this was a persistent issue, as bills for gas distribution are calculated based on previous year’s consumption volumes and are independent of whether you are currently using the resource. Due to this legal discrepancy, people who lost their homes and no longer live there continued to receive bills. This problem has now been resolved at the legislative level.
Who will also not have to pay for maintenance
These changes are not limited to gas delivery itself. In some instances, the law also permits exemption from paying for the maintenance of internal gas systems in apartment buildings. Thus, owners of homes destroyed by war are fully exempted from these costs for the entire duration that it is physically impossible to use gas.
The National Commission explained that the primary objective of the new rules is to avoid compelling citizens to pay for services they are not actually receiving due to the consequences of hostilities.
Owners of destroyed housing can refrain from submitting meter readings
The rules for submitting meter readings have also been significantly simplified. Owners of damaged or destroyed housing are exempt from the obligation to submit monthly gas meter readings to the gas distribution system operator.
This exemption will be valid for the entire period during which it is impossible to use gas at the residence and no distribution charges are applied. This eliminates the need for people to waste time each month submitting the same meter readings of zero solely for formality’s sake.
A peculiarity of the gas regulations was that the cost of fuel transportation is calculated based on the annual capacity from the previous period, not the actual cubic meters consumed in a specific month. This is why zero consumption did not automatically cancel the figures on gas delivery bills. The new resolution will take effect the day after its official publication.
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Since July 1, Ukraine has seen an increase in cold water tariffs, with some cities experiencing double or even triple increases. Uman has the most expensive water, while Kyiv residents have so far avoided sharp price hikes due to the restrained position of the city authorities.
Even if an apartment is unoccupied, the owner will still have to pay for heating and the upkeep of the adjacent territory. However, waste removal, electricity, and water supply services can be “frozen” upon submitting a relevant application. If the residence is equipped with meters, it is sufficient to submit readings on time, and no additional requests will be necessary.
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