Compensation of citizens for the north current, Z. RRE declared for Constitutional Act

The Constitutional Court has given yesterday the Supreme Court justice regarding the Act of Justice, through which it was granted rights to citizens to seek compensation for the fate it has been made for several years for the flow spent in four northern municipalities. The Energy Regulatory Office has spoken of Periscope as to how it will be taken away.

Citizens who for years have been billed for the current spent in four northern municipalities could seek compensation. The Supreme Court's ruling on this has been confirmed yesterday by the Constitutional Court, which has published the Act on Energy Regulatory Office's request.

“The ruling [Arj.n.116/2022] of March 9th 2023 of the Supreme Court is not in conflict with Article 1 of Article 31 [The Rights for Law of Law and Freeness] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and paragraph 1 of Article 6 (Right for a Regular Process) of the European Convention on Human Rights”, the Constitutional Report said.

This Act has already been accepted by the Energy Regulatory Office, which they are analyzing.

In a response to Periscope, by the ZRR, they have stated that “despite the fact that this act is fairly compact”, this institution will carry out its duties in accordance with the legal mandate and all actions to be taken,

The Energy Regulatory Office has accepted the act by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo, in the case of KI10323. Z THE RR is analyzing this act and will examine all possible legal options available to him in this regard. Despite this bias being very complex, Mr. The RRE will carry out its duties in accordance with the legal mandate and for all actions to be taken, public opinion will be announced by the time”, said in response.

The ZREANA had asked the Constitution to clarify how it should be done in this case, since in the Action only is required by Z. THE HR to take action to force the Transmission System Operator to make the return of the billed sum, but no shapes and ways are specified.

According to the Supreme Court, citizens have the right to return these means. The claims regarding the reasoning of not running into these municipalities with security causes and not having access to the popularity reading in that section, the Supreme has seen them as unstable.

Therefore, claims about reasoning and not indicating in the four northern municipalities with security reasons are not sustainable, and do not have access to knowledge reading in that section, because it is not justified that other citizens for these reasons be charged with paying for spent electricity without a legal basis. Therefore, with this fate and payment has become the unfair treatment of Kosovo citizens, which conflicts with Article 55 per cent. 4, of the Constitution, inequitable treatment cited as in the courts of lower institutions, because it has become a restriction on human rights. So based on the 194th article of LMD, consumers, who without legal basis and without their knowledge are billed and paid for the energy spent in the north, were granted the right to return the paid amount as courts of lower institutions”, the Supreme announced.

Otherwise, the current that citizens in northern Kosovo, inhabited by Serb majority, have paid citizens and other parts of the country for 18 years.

To pay off these debts, citizens of other parts of Kosovo have paid bills for 3.5 per cent more expensive.

From 2017 onward, due to numerous citizens' complaints, Kosovo's Constitutional Court has passed the payment responsibility to the country's institutions. That same year, the Court of Appeals has demanded that consumers who have paid the current spent in the north for 18 years be compensated.

In a post made in February last year, Prime Minister Albin Kurti had said that since 1999, because of Serbia's actions, Kosovo has lost over 300m euros in electricity and water bills that Serbs in the north have not paid.

“Since 1999, Kosovo has lost over 300m euros due to Serbia's actions, such as keeping tax fees and forcing businessmen to pay T VSH in Serbia for our electricity trade. Even now, Belgrade's refusal to allow Kosovo-Serbia trade costs Kosovo up to 10m euros a month”, Kurti had written.