OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2013. The Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (Yakutia FAS Russia) found actions of “Housing-and-Utilities Services of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)” State Unitary Enterprise unlawful: imposing fee-based services for sealing water metering devices.

Earlier Yakutia FAS Russia received a complaint from a warden of a residential house in Allaikhovsky District in the Republic of Sakha about actions of “Housing-and-Utilities Services of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)”.

Investigating the case, the Commission of Yakutia FAS Russia established that the resource-supplying organization “Housing-and-Utilities Services of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)” and consumers concluded a contract for supplying utilities. On 14th January 2013 a customer applied to the Allaikhovsky station - a branch of “Kommunteplosbyt” Housing-and-Utilities Services (Yakutia) for sealing hot water metering devices due to their replacement. However, on 24th January 2013 the petitioner was informed that the device would be sealed after “Kommunteplosbyt” received the payment.

Thus, the Commission of Yakutia FAS Russia established that actions of “Housing-and-Utilities Services of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)” breached Part 5 Article 20 of the Federal Law “On Water Supply and Sewerage” and Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

“Imposing fee-based services for sealing water metering devices contradict the current legislation and are in breach of Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition””, said Deputy Head of Yakutia FAS Russia, the Head of the Department for Natural Monopolies and Advertising, Sergey Firansky.

Reference:

1. Under Part 5 Article 20 of the Federal Law “On Water Supply and Sewerage”, a customer, an organization operating water-supply or sewage networks shall place water and sewage disposal metering devices on the border of balance sheet attribution of networks, the border of customer’s operational responsibility, specified by the organization, or in another place in accordance with the contracts specified in Part 1 Article 7, Part 1 Article 11, Part 5 Article 12 of the Federal Law, contracts on hooking up (technological connection). Water and sewage disposal metering devices installed to determine the quantity of water supplied to a customer under a water supply contract, sewage disposal by a customer under a sewage disposal contract, shall be sealed by the organizations providing hot water supply, cold water supply and (or) sewage disposal and with whom the contracts are concluded, without charging customers, except when sealing the metering devices shall again be made by the organization due to breaking the seal through a fault of the customer of third parties.

2. Under Part 1 Article 4 of the Federal Law “On Natural Monopolies”, water supply and sewerage services the use of centralized systems and communal infrastructure systems are activities of holders of natural monopolies.

3. Under Part 5 Article 5 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” a position of an economic entity – a holder of natural monopoly on the market in the state of natural monopoly shall be recognized as dominant.

4. Part 1 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” prohibits actions (omissions) of an economic entity with dominant position, the result of which are or can be preventing, restricting, eliminating competition and (or) infringing the interests of other persons, including the following actions (omissions): <…> imposing disadvantageous contract conditions upon a counteragent, or conditions irrelevant to the contract subject (requirements, economically or technologically unjustified and (or) not provided for directly by federal laws, normative legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation, normative legal acts of the Government of the Russian Federation, normative legal acts of the authorized federal executive bodies or judicial acts, for transferring financial resources, other property, including property rights, as well as a consent to conclude a contract subject to including provisions in the contract regarding the goods in which a counteragent is not interested, and other requirements).