Water Metering Processes at the Center of Citizens’ Complaints
In recent years, the “Veolia Jur” company, which operates in the water supply and sewerage sector in the Republic of Armenia, has repeatedly become the subject of discussion regarding the services it provides to its subscribers. Among the public, there are ongoing discussions about the process of recording water meter readings and calculating payment bills.
According to the decision No. 378 adopted on November 30, 2016, by the Public Services Regulatory Commission of the Republic of Armenia, the relationship between “Veolia Jur” and its subscribers is regulated by the rules for providing drinking water supply and sewerage services.
However, these legal provisions, aimed at protecting the rights of subscribers, are often violated in practice. Subscribers are offered the option to independently photograph their meter readings and send them online, which over time has become common practice. This situation has raised numerous questions: if the law stipulates that the recording of meter readings is the supplier’s responsibility, then why is the subscriber performing this task?
In response to our inquiry, “Veolia Jur” stated that if the inspector cannot access the subscriber’s premises, the meter readings can also be verified via phone call or electronically.
When the commercial metering device is installed in an area owned or legally possessed by the subscriber, the metering of the device’s readings is carried out by the supplier’s representative after presenting a service certificate. The supplier’s representative can either enter the subscriber’s premises or verify the meter reading via phone call or electronically, and subscribers also have the option to report the readings.
The supplier’s representative must record the readings on-site at least once every six months.
However, subscribers frequently express dissatisfaction that the bills they receive sometimes do not match their actual consumption. In several cases, the supplier has issued estimated charges based on average consumption from previous months without checking the actual readings. According to the law, this is only allowed if the supplier is unable to access the subscriber’s premises. Yet, subscribers claim that inspectors often do not notify them in such situations.
If the supplier is unable to record the readings within the prescribed time frame and provides documented reasoning, they calculate the service quantity for the billing month based on the number of days in the billing month and the subscriber’s average daily consumption.
In the following billing month, the exact meter readings are recorded, and the payment process is adjusted. This issue commonly arises for tenants in rental apartments. If previous tenants failed to regularly report the meter readings, the new tenants might face difficulties, having to pay for both their own and previous occupants’ water usage.
The company mentioned that its employees regularly verify subscriber data using mobile applications, and necessary adjustments are made if discrepancies are detected. Their work is reviewed quarterly, and summary data is compiled to determine the course of future work.
The fact remains that these issues require multifaceted solutions within the context of correctly applying legal norms and protecting subscribers’ rights.