The Gulistan City Department of Preschool Education, as a consumer, appealed to the Syrdarya Regional Department of the Antimonopoly Committee, requesting help in clarifying the validity of the application of coefficient 2 for natural gas consumption by the regional branch of Uztransgaz JSC for the period from November to December 2018.
Clause 105 of the Rules for the Use of Electric Energy and Natural Gas (old version actual to 28.02.2019), approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 12.01.2018 No.22, states that “when natural gas is taken by the consumer in larger volumes than specified in the contract for the supply of natural gas , without prior agreement with the gas supplying organization, the consumer is charged an increased payment with a coefficient of 2 to the cost of natural gas received in excess of the contractual volumes. In case of untimely payment of the resulting debt, the consumer pays the gas supplying organization a penalty in the amount established by law. ”
During the consideration of the appeal, it turned out that the agreement between the Syrdarya regional branch of Uztransgaz JSC and the The Gulistan City Department of Preschool Education was concluded on January 22, 2018. In May of the same year, an additional agreement was registered in the Department of the Treasury of Gulistan, according to which a limit for the use of natural gas was set for the consumer – 62.124 m3 for November and 69.758m3 for December. True, for some reason, the additional agreement was not included in the Fossa natural gas consumption metering program, as a result of which the program automatically applied coefficient 2. As a result, in the last two months of 2018, the consumer was charged 79,129,200 UZS of unjustified debt.
The case was considered by a special commission Syrdarya Regional Department of the Antimonopoly Committee. In terms of violation of Article 16 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Natural Monopolies”, the gas supplying organization was ordered to recalculate the unreasonably received income in the amount of more than 79 million UZS to Gulistan City Department of Preschool Education.
However, the regional branch of “Uztransgaz ” JSC did not fulfill this order. Therefore, the Syrdarya Regional Department of the Antimonopoly Committee filed a claim to the Court. As a result, 79,129,200 UZS were transferred to the account of the consumer – the Gulistan City Department of Preschool Education.
Press Office of the Antimonopoly Committee