Protection of competition and consumer rights Overestimation of gas meter readings in receipts issued to consumers is not a manifestation of consumer discrimination
By Resolution No. 10 of the Deputy Head of the Department of the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies, Protection of Competition and Consumer Rights of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the South Kazakhstan Region (hereinafter referred to as the Department, Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan) dated May 25, 2018, Joint Stock Company "K" (hereinafter referred to as the Company) was brought to administrative responsibility for committing an offense provided for in Part 4 of Article 164 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the Administrative Code), with a fine of 3,848,000 tenge. By the resolution of the Specialized Administrative Court (hereinafter referred to as the CAC) of the city of Shymkent dated June 11, 2018, the resolution of the official of the authorized body remained unchanged. By the decision of the Judicial Board for Civil Cases of the South Kazakhstan Regional Court dated July 13, 2018, the decision of the CAS was left unchanged, the complaint of the JSC was dismissed. In his submission, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan proposes to review the decision of the official of the authorized body and the judicial acts that have entered into force in cassation due to the violation of uniformity in the interpretation and application of legal norms by the courts. In March 2018, the Department conducted an unscheduled inspection based on applications from a group of citizens, which revealed errors in the gas payment receipts issued by the Company, which led to an overestimation of the payment amount in the amount of 210,172 tenge. In this regard, the Company was brought to administrative responsibility with a fine of 3,848,000 tenge.
Protection of competition and consumer rights Overestimation of gas meter readings in receipts issued to consumers is not a manifestation of consumer discrimination
The basis for bringing JSC to administrative responsibility were the Department's conclusions about charging additional fees that were not provided for by law, imposing conditions for consumers to access regulated services and committing other actions leading to consumer discrimination. These conclusions are unfounded. In accordance with subparagraph 15) of paragraph 3 of the Rules for Providing Equal Conditions of Access to Regulated Services in the Field of Natural Monopolies, approved by Order of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 29, 2014 No. 175 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules), access to services of subjects of natural monopolies is recognized as the opportunity for consumers to use regulated services (goods, works) on conditions no less favorable than those that provide a similar service to other consumers. Consumers used gas at the time of receipt of receipts and inspection of the Department, which indicates that there is no imposition of conditions for access to services and goods. Gas bills were overstated according to meter readings. There is no evidence in the case file that the Company charged additional fees or imposed additional obligations. According to the terms of the public agreement, if the meter readings do not match the receipt data, consumers have the right to apply to the Company's branch for reconciliation. In the List of regulated services (goods, works) of natural monopoly entities, approved by Order of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 30, 2014 No. 158, one of the regulated activities of JSC is the transportation of commercial gas through connecting, main gas pipelines and gas distribution systems. The above violations were identified during the retail sale of commercial gas, that is, in another field of activity regulated by the Business Code (hereinafter referred to as the PC), the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Gas and Gas Supply" and other regulatory legal acts (including the Order of the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated November 3, 2014 No. 96 "On approval of the Rules of Retail sale and use of commercial and liquefied petroleum gas".
In accordance with subparagraph H) of paragraph 1 of Article 124-5 of the PC, state price regulation applies to goods (works, services) of subjects of socially significant markets in the retail sale of marketable gas, retail sale of liquefied petroleum gas through group storage facilities. Thus, issuing receipts with inflated readings to consumers does not apply to providing equal access to gas supply. The decision of an official of the authorized body and judicial acts that have entered into force violate the uniformity in the interpretation and application of legal norms by courts, which, in accordance with subparagraph 3) of part 5 of Article 851 of the Administrative Code, entails their revision. The Specialized Judicial Board of the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Deputy Head of the Department of the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies, Protection of Competition and Consumer Rights of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the South Kazakhstan region and judicial acts of local courts and issued a new decision to terminate proceedings in this case due to the absence of an administrative offense in the actions of joint Stock Company "K". part 4 of Article 164 of the Administrative Code. The submission of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan is satisfied.
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