How often do Ukrainians overpay for utilities? What to do and where to go
2 April 17:07
This year, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection has conducted 36 unscheduled inspections of enterprises providing housing and communal services, and in 32 cases (88.9%) violations were found. This was reported by the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
As a result of these inspections, 18 penalties were imposed in the amount of UAH 413.4 thousand, 23 orders were issued to bring tariffs in line with the law, and UAH 948.9 thousand is to be refunded to consumers.
In 2024, starting in April, when the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection resumed unscheduled inspections in the field of housing and communal services, 241 inspections were conducted, resulting in administrative and economic sanctions in the amount of UAH 3.7 million. According to the decisions and orders, the company is obliged to refund UAH 2.5 million to consumers.
The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection urges citizens to be vigilant and, if in doubt about the correctness of tariffs, to carefully check utility bills and demand justification of calculations.
Where the consumer can be helped
In case of violations in the provision of housing and communal services, you should contact the territorial offices of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. Phone numbers and addresses can be found here.
To get a refund of overpaid funds, you should contact the Customer Service Center of the company that received the payment. To do this, you must personally provide the following documents: passport; identification code; payment receipt. It is worth remembering that, for example, in accordance with paragraph 24 of Section III of the Rules for the Supply of Natural Gas, in case of overpayment, the amount mistakenly paid is credited to the next bills.
In order to protect the rights and interests of consumers of housing and utility services, the Kyiv City State Administration has established the Department (Inspectorate) of Self-Governance Control, which considers appeals from Kyiv residents regarding the quality and quantity of utility services and the correctness of charges for them. For more information, please call (044) 293-36-46.
What else should consumers keep in mind
The ban on the termination of housing and communal services, the imposition of fines and penalties, and the collection of debts for housing and communal services, which has been in effect since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, has been lifted for almost a year and a half. The government made the decision back in December 2023.
The moratorium on utility disconnections remains in effect only in the occupied territories and in areas where hostilities are ongoing.
For the rest of the utility consumers, the resolution resumed the charging of penalties for non-payment of utility bills and the collection of utility debts in court. The possibility of disconnecting debtors from utility services in case of non-payment or underpayment for services received has also been restored.
Debts for utilities are growing
As of the middle of last year, there were 701,000 proceedings in Ukraine to recover debts for housing and communal services. In February 2022, the register of debtors contained 512,359 proceedings for non-payment of utility bills, meaning that from the beginning of the full-scale war to mid-2024, there were 37% more debtors. As of the beginning of 2025, 727 thousand utility payment arrears were already recorded. This data is provided on the Opendatabot platform.
Most often, consumers’ debts arise from non-payment for heating, followed by debts for water supply with a significant margin, and debts for electricity round out the top three.
How critical is the situation with utility debts?
In the context of a full-scale war, it is expected that the amount of debt for utilities will grow, so we should not make a big deal out of it. This is the opinion of Oleksandr Sergienko, director of the analytical and research center “Urban Institute”. Commenting on Opendatabot’s data, according to which Ukrainians’ utility debts have increased significantly since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the expert explained that the level of utility payments has always reached 94-96% over the year, as it is not typical for Ukrainians to go into debt. In addition, Ukrainian legislation provides for effective mechanisms for debt collection.
In this regard, according to Oleksandr Sergienko, if the existing disciplinary measures are applied to debtors and the situation in the country remains more or less predictable, we can reach the pre-war level of UAH 82 billion in debt.
