In Uzbekistan, utility payments worth 22 billion soums recalculated in favor of 800 thousand citizens

In Uzbekistan, large amounts of unjustified debts have been written off in favor of citizens who have not lived at their main place of residence for a certain period, or who have studied or worked abroad. As a result of large-scale studies conducted by the Competition Committee in cooperation with relevant agencies, the rights of nearly 800 thousand citizens were restored across the republic, and nearly 22 billion soums in utility debts were recalculated in their favor.

It turned out that some utility companies continued charging fees even for vacant apartments without taking into account the actual status of subscribers or entering new data into the system in a timely manner.

Where did the unjustified payments come from? Details of the inspection

The analysis conducted by the committee revealed significant discrepancies regarding citizens who temporarily resided, worked, sought employment, and studied abroad:

• Discrepancies in waste management payments: During the relevant period, unjustified fees for household waste removal were charged to nearly 800 thousand citizens who received no services at all and did not live in the apartment;

• Water payments without meters: Illegal debts were issued in the names of nearly 100 citizens who did not live in apartments where drinking water meters were absent and no one actually resided;

• Flaws in the database: In many regions, the subscriber database was not updated, and the number of citizens who moved out or were abroad remained listed according to old records.

Procedure for recalculating debt: What does the legislation say?

According to current regulatory legal acts, specific procedures are established regarding changes in the number of persons residing in an apartment:

• If supporting documents are available: If official documents confirming the decrease in the number of subscribers are provided (exit stamp from abroad, study or medical certificate, temporary registration, etc.), the debt is fully recalculated starting from the exact date when the number of persons changed;

• If supporting documents are not available: If the citizen does not retain such documents, in accordance with the current procedure, the recalculation is carried out only for the past 3 months.

What will change now? Proposals from the Competition Committee

To prevent such problems from recurring and to eliminate the human factor, the Competition Committee put forward a number of important initiatives to relevant ministries and departments:

• Direct integration with the migration database: It was proposed to integrate the billing systems of all utility services with the migration database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Through this, the system will automatically determine when a person left and returned from abroad;

• Monthly automatic recalculation: An initiative was announced to introduce a mechanism for automatic monthly recalculation of utility payments for subscribers and their family members who have been abroad for more than 1 month until they return to Uzbekistan.

These measures will serve to prevent millions of our compatriots abroad and their families from being assigned baseless utility debts in the future.