Is the unauthorized replacement of an IPU an interference in its work?

Replacement of the IPU must be carried out after notifying the executor of the control system and in the presence of his representative

The legislation has addressed the issue of unauthorized interference in the operation of a meter, but in practice, suppliers of utility resources cannot always correctly interpret the actions of consumers in relation to IPU without the help of a court. Let's look at an example.

Primorye's electricity supplier went to court. He demanded to collect from the resident of the house the debt for the resource, calculated on the basis of an act of unaccounted consumption, in the amount of almost 60 thousand rubles. Such an act was drawn up because the consumer independently, without notifying the service provider, dismantled the old IPU and installed a new one. The defendant asked the electricity supplier to seal the meter.

Specialists came to the consumer and recorded the fact of interference with the operation of the meter. They also indicated that the resident of the house did not keep the old meter and installed a new one not on the border of the balance sheet of the networks. The consumer did not sign the drafted act and did not pay for the volume of unaccounted consumption calculated based on it, which is why the dispute went to court.

The plaintiff considered that the owner violated clause 81(13) of Regulation No. 354. In the event of a meter failure, he was obliged to immediately notify the service provider, report the IPU readings at that time and arrange for its replacement within 30 days. To dismantle a faulty meter, the consumer must notify the utility contractor of the date and time of such work at least 2 working days in advance. The replacement of the IPU is carried out in the presence of representatives of the service provider.

The owner explained in court that he contacted the service provider with the question of replacing the IPU and wrote a statement. The company representatives who came to him did not replace it, considering that the meter was not on the balance sheet line. Then the consumer himself replaced the IPU and asked the service provider to seal it. He regularly paid the receipts issued to him with the calculation of the fee on average, and then according to the standard, so he has no debt for electricity.

The court of first instance sided with the consumer. He indicated that in this case the utility service provider was obliged to apply paragraphs. “d” clause 59 of Rules No. 354: in the event of failure of the IPU, the calculation of fees for the resource should be based on the calculated average monthly volume of consumption determined according to the indications.

From the date of expiration of the electrical energy metering device, the parties to the energy supply agreement must use the calculation method for determining the payment for the consumed resource. The court did not find in the case any signs of non-contractual consumption or interference in the work of the IPU. The judge refused to allow the supplier to collect the debt from the owner.

How to distinguish unaccounted resource consumption from non-contractual consumption
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How to detect an illegal connection to the power grid?

You can detect the fact of unauthorized use of power grid resources or attempts to underestimate meter readings in the following ways:

• During a visual inspection . Despite the simplicity of the technique, it is quite effective. As a rule, this method detects attempts to influence the operation of the electric meter, which manifests itself in the form of broken seals or damage to the device body. As for illegal connections to overhead lines, they are not difficult to detect (see Fig. 1).
• Use of special devices . As a rule, these are hidden wiring sensors, voltage probes or current clamps. The latter are quite effective in detecting attempts to “deceive” the electric meter by replacing zero with “ground”. In this case, it is enough to measure the current at phase and zero, and then compare the readings. If discrepancies are found, this indicates a violation of energy accounting.

In practice, there are many cases where an illegal connection to the internal network of a third-party consumer is made. If electricity consumption has increased sharply, then this should raise suspicions; checking them yourself is quite simple. To do this, you must follow the following procedure:

1. Disconnect all electrical appliances from the power supply, even those in sleep mode.
2. Observe the electric meter readings. If the device continues to record electricity consumption, this clearly indicates an unauthorized connection.

If a “leakage” of electricity is detected, this should be reported to the company providing energy supply services. The control service will record the fact of connection, restore normal operation of the power grid, and the violator will be held accountable.

Unauthorized interference with the operation of the information control system - damage to seals and meter

The utility service provider filed an appeal. He pointed out violations on the part of the defendant:

• he arbitrarily replaced a previously installed electricity meter with a new one in the absence of a representative of the network organization or resource supplier;
• when replacing the meter, the readings of the old IPU were not recorded, the presence of visual control seals and the state verifier were not checked before its dismantling;
• The connection diagram for the new metering device has not been checked.

The Court of Appeal indicated that, by virtue of Art. 543 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the subscriber is obliged to ensure the proper technical condition and safety of the operated energy networks and devices, comply with the established energy consumption regime and report to the energy supplying organization about malfunctions of metering devices.

According to clause 81(13) of Regulation No. 354, if the meter fails, the consumer must notify the contractor about this, and also inform the date and time of its replacement at least 2 working days before. Dismantling of the metering device is carried out in the presence of the CU contractor.

The responsibility to ensure the safety of the electricity metering device, its seals and compliance of the electricity metering circuits with the established rules lies with the consumer (clause 2.11.17 of the Rules of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation dated January 13, 2003 No. 6).

Electricity consumption when interfering with the operation of the IPU: violating its integrity, seals, visual control signs, the procedure for connecting the meter - in accordance with clause 2 of Rules No. 442 is considered unaccounted for. It can be recorded when checking the operation of the IPU and during inspection before dismantling (clause 177 of Rules No. 442).

The court noted that from the evidence in the case it is clear that the consumer violated the rules for installing a new meter:

• dismantled it without permission;
• did not retain the previous IPU;
• did not give the network organization and the guaranteeing supplier the opportunity to check the presence of seals on the previous meter.

Therefore, the service provider legally drew up an act on unaccounted electricity consumption and calculated the defendant’s debt on this basis. Since the owner has not paid the debt, the demands of the resource supplier to collect this money must be satisfied. The court overturned the decision of the first instance.

Consumption of a resource when it is limited: non-contractual or unaccounted for

What is considered a non-contractual connection?

The Government of the Russian Federation in Resolution No. 442 of 05/04/2012 and in its new version dated 02/04/2017 provides an explanation of the concept of “unauthorized connection” with a distinction between non-contractual and unaccounted for.

1. Non-contractual unauthorized connection implies connection to the power grid without concluding an agreement with the energy supply organization.
2. Unmetered unauthorized connection is the connection of some devices bypassing electricity metering devices. An agreement with the energy supply organization has been concluded, but part of the electricity remains unaccounted for and therefore unpaid.

Important! All work on connecting electricity must be carried out by a specialist. High voltage in the network is not only dangerous for your life, but can also cause a fire due to a short circuit in the electrical network.

Unauthorized replacement of the IPU is not a case of interference with the operation of the metering device

The consumer filed a complaint with the Court of Cassation, which examined in detail the question of whether the guaranteeing electricity supplier correctly qualified the consumer’s actions. The approach to calculating the fee for the resource and the amount of the defendant’s debt depends on this.

The plaintiff acted on the basis of clauses 62, 81(11) of Rules No. 354 as if the fact of unauthorized consumer intervention in the operation of the meter was established and recorded. The debt was calculated using the formula in clause 81(11) of Rules No. 354.

At the same time, as the cassation court noted, the utility service provider, when inspecting the condition of the IPU in accordance with clause 81(11) of Rules No. 354, must check:

• the integrity of the meter and the absence of mechanical damage, holes or cracks on it, the fit of the indicator glass;
• presence and safety of control seals and indicators of antimagnetic seals, absence of damage to the IPU terminal cover;
• Is there access to the components and terminals of the metering device, which will allow interfering with its operation.

Unauthorized interference in the operation of the information control system is the violations listed above detected during inspection.

The plaintiff in this case, when checking the meter, found that the owner had unauthorizedly removed the old electric power supply unit and installed a new one. This is a violation of the requirements of paragraphs. pp. “d, e” clause 35 of Regulation No. 354, which states that the consumer has no right:

• unauthorized dismantling of metering devices;
• unauthorized connection of equipment to in-house engineering systems, making changes to them.

The judge concluded that the defendant violated the rules for installing the meter. The utility service provider had no grounds for drawing up the relevant act and charging fees for it in accordance with clause 81(11) of Rules No. 354. If the new IPU was not accepted for accounting, then the payment for electricity supply for the consumer should be determined by calculation methods in accordance with clause . “a” clause 59, clause 60 of Rules No. 354.

The Court of Cassation overturned the ruling of the appellate instance and sent the case for a new trial (ruling of the Ninth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction dated 07/08/2021 in case No. 88-4351/2021).

Ways to avoid punishment and proof of innocence

Knowing the size of fines for turning off electricity for non-payment, you need to understand how you can avoid paying them or reduce the amount. You cannot connect without permission, otherwise it will be difficult to argue that you are right.

Options for avoiding punishment and proving non-involvement:

1. If there is testimony or other documents indicating that Energosbyt de-energized the residential premises illegally, the person is not obliged to pay the imposed penalties. In addition, the owner has every right to go to court. To do this, you need to competently draw up a complaint against the organization and provide strong evidence of correctness. The application is submitted to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Housing Inspectorate or the prosecutor's office at the place of residence. In this case, it is possible not only to restore justice, but also to demand moral compensation.
2. If the fact of unofficial connection to a common panel is recorded, then it will not be possible to avoid litigation. However, the amount of penalties can be reduced. When a citizen is held accountable under the Criminal Code, then with the help of a lawyer, it is possible to reclassify the offense as a civil or administrative article.
3. If the owner discovers that the seal has been broken or the meter is not working correctly, then you should contact the management company yourself and resolve the issue amicably.

Actions of the consumer when drawing up an act of unmetered electricity consumption

In statements of claim and claims, it is necessary to substantiate the petition with the legislative norms indicated above.

Note to organizations: if it was discovered that the company’s employees unauthorizedly connected the cable to the common panel, then it is worth informing the management company. In this case, leniency may be obtained.

On a note

The organization managing the house, in the absence of a direct agreement between the owners and the RSO, is the executor of utility services. Her responsibilities, among other things, include checking the condition and readings of individual metering devices and stopping unaccounted consumption of resources and interference with the operation of meters.

As the case examined showed, it is not always easy for CP executors to figure out which actions of apartment building residents can be interpreted as unauthorized interference, and which as a violation of the rules for replacing the IPU. To prevent owners from dismantling and installing meters without permission, building managers should promptly notify residents of the building about the need for such replacement and tell them how this should be done in accordance with Rule No. 354.

If, when checking the meter, the management revealed facts of damage to the IPU or the influence of a magnet on it to distort the readings, then it must draw up an appropriate report and then calculate the fee in accordance with paragraphs. 62, para. 6 clause 81(11) RF PP No. 354. You can learn how to do this correctly from our materials. Find out:

• how to draw up an act on unaccounted consumption so that it is not challenged by the court;
• how to apply an increasing coefficient in the presence of an act of unauthorized interference in the operation of the IPU.

Criminal liability

If you unauthorizedly connect the light and use it on a large scale without accounting and without payment, such actions will result in a more serious punishment than a fine. The case is heard in court, and it is this body that decides how serious the crime is and what harm was caused to the state.

For theft of electricity on a large scale, Article 158 of the Criminal Code will be applied to an individual or legal entity. And according to it, the violator can be imprisoned for up to 2 years.

Amount of fine

Unauthorized connection to the power grid and theft of electricity cannot but be punished:

• According to Article 7.19 of the Code of Administrative Offences, the violator must pay a fine of 10,000 to 15,000 thousand. This is the amount for individuals. If an official violates the law, the amount of the fine increases - from 30,000 to 80,000 rubles. In addition, the official may be dismissed from his position and disqualified for up to 2 years.
• Legal entities will receive a fine from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles.

But the court can order more than just a fine. If it is determined that too much electricity was stolen, the offender may even end up in prison for two years.

ATTENTION! The court always considers the specific circumstances of the situation; mitigating circumstances may also be taken into account.

In any case, the punishment should be such that the offender no longer has the desire to commit illegal actions. It should be harsh, instructive, but also objective at the same time.

A fine or imprisonment also relieves the person of the obligation to pay for the electricity that was received after an unauthorized connection . The amount is calculated based on average daily consumption and can be quite significant. Punishments, taken together, make all “savings” impractical.