Communists complain to Constitutional Court over transit heat pipe fees

The Communist parliamentary faction today submitted a petition to the Constitutional Court requesting it to check the constitutionality of a recent Government decision that gradually raises the monthly fee for transit heat pipes paid to Termocom by the residential consumers who renounced centralized heating. Until October 1 the fee was 5% of the calculated amount for the heated area. Now it has been raised to 10%, and is supposed to further raise to 15% by October 2012 and to 20% by the beginning of 2013. “The Government exceeded its authority by adopting primary norms, which are the prerogative of Parliament. (...) This violates the right of equality before the law, because some will pay and others will not. We consider that the practice of covering the losses incurred by a utility company by excessively charging consumers violates the principles of market economy and fair competition”, stated the Communist Party's lawyer Sergiu Sirbu.