Cutting off of consumers indebted to Termocom SA discussed at CMC meeting

The disconnection of the indebted consumers carried out by Termocom SA by cutting the heat pipes in their apartments was brought up at Thursday’s meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC). The Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said that the disconnections are justified when it is ascertained that the consumers have financial possibilities but do not pay the heating charges, as they know that there is no legal mechanism allowing cut-offs. Mihai Arusoi, commercial director of Termocom, said that the disconnections are carried out in compliance with court decisions on every case apart. On the other hand, a number of councillors consider that the employees of Termocom SA and of the municipal enterprises that administer the housing sector exceed their authority. According to Oleg Cernei, councillor on behalf of the AMN faction, under the court decisions invoked by Mihai Arusoi, the property of the indebted consumers can be sequestrated, but these decisions do not allow cutting the pipes in the apartments. Cernei accused the administration of Termocom of presenting wrong calculations when it asked to increase the heating charges. He said that the tariff should be not larger than 430 lei and not 540 lei as agreed. In reply to the mayor’s statement that some councillors have luxurious cars, but do not pay for the services intentionally, the councillor on behalf of the PPCD faction Eugenia Starcea said that it is not the business of the City Hall’s functionaries to calculate debtors’ incomes. She said that there are many cases when the consumers receive incorrect water and heating bills for the period when they did not have meters and that only the court must solve such disputes. The councilors did not make a decision because the given issue was not included in the agenda. They promised to return to it when they examine the mechanisms for distributing nominative compensations. According to Termocom SA, the heat debt totals about 487 mln lei.