MRSK Tsentra : In the Tambov region the court ordered a dishonest consumer to pay more than 38 million rubles for stolen electricity

In the Tambov region, a trial was completed on a fact of non-metered consumption of electricity by OJSC 'Morskansky Brewery Plant', supplied by IDGC of Centre - Tambovenergo division.

In the course of a planned check conducted by employees of the branch in August 2017, damage to the seal was detected in the existing power installation in the plant, which made possible some non-metered consumption of electricity by the enterprise. According to this fact, experts of the Tambov branch of IDGC of Centre compiled an act that became the basis for application of the sales company to the court for damages. The amount of indebtedness under the act amounted to 38.9 million rubles, while the Intermunicipal Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 'Morshansky' initiated prosecution and accepted for criminal proceedings on the grounds of the offense under Part 2 of Art. 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 'Infliction of property damage by deception or abuse of trust'.

Last week, the Arbitration Court of the Tambov region satisfied the claim of the sales company, confirming the fact of non-metered energy consumption by OJSC 'Morskansky Brewery Plant' and deciding to recover from the company the debt in full.

The power engineers remind that the legislation provides for a strict punishment in respect of energy thieves. In case of detection of electricity theft, the violator not only compensates for the damage to the power grid company, but is also brought to criminal or administrative responsibility with payment of a fine. It should be noted that since 1 January 2016 Russia has tightened administrative responsibility for unauthorized connection to grids and use of electricity, as well as violation of the rules for using electricity and rules for construction and operation of power installations. In particular, the amount of fines for unauthorized connection and use of electricity has been increased.

Bona fide consumers, who regularly pay bills for electricity, suffer greatly from criminal acts of violators: because of thefts, there are voltage fluctuations in the grid, household appliances are out of order, the probability of failures, fires and accidents increases.

IDGC of Centre intend to consistently struggle against energy thieves. The company uses funds from the sale of electricity transmission services, among other things, to solution of priority production tasks related to ensuring high-quality and uninterrupted power supply to consumers.