site.btaSupreme Court of Cassation Cancels All Challenged Clauses of EVN's General Terms

Supreme Court of Cassation Cancels All Challenged Clauses of EVN's General Terms

Plovdiv, South Central Bulgaria, August 11 (BTA) - The Supreme
Court of Cassation  upheld the appeal of the Association for
Legal Assistance to Consumers against one third of the general
terms of EVN Bulgaria Elektrosnabdiavane, lawyers of the
Association announced at BTA's Press Club in Plovdiv.

The company is EVN's electricity supply subsidiary for
Southeastern Bulgaria.

Association Chairman Dimiter Dekov said all the 13 clauses
challenged in court were cancelled. First and foremost, he
mentioned the reconnection charge which cannot be demanded from
Friday. Disconnection should be a final measure but now it is not
 preceded by less severe measures, Dekov said.

For its part, EVN Bulgaria Elektrosnabdiavane said that users in
 Southeastern Bulgaria will continue paying the reconnection
charge when they are disconected for unpaid bills. The company
cited the effective Article 62(1) of the General Terms of EVN
Bulgaria Elektrorazpredelenie (the electricity distribution
subsidiary), which operates the facilities and makes
expenditures on transport, equipment, labour and materials. The
reconnection charge has always been paid to the distribution
subsidiary and not to the electricity supply one, EVN said.

The Association's lawyers argued that the charge was factored in
 in the price of electricity and must not be paid for
reconnection. Following the court judgement, the electricity
distribution subsidiary will also be held liable if users are
left without electricity for over 24 hours for reasons beyond
their control, according to the lawyers.

The Association will refer the court's final ruling to all state
 bodies and will set in motion procedures for sanctions in case
of failure to comply with the court judgement.