Procedure for Reviewing Consumer Appeals

Procedure for Reviewing Consumer Appeals, Complaints, and Claims

Participants in the retail market, when carrying out activities related to the distribution, transmission, supply (sale) of electrical energy to the Consumer, provision of commercial metering services, and supply of natural gas, must comply with the requirements of applicable legislation and concluded contracts;
If a disputed issue arises between the parties to the relevant contract, the parties must take all possible measures to resolve the disputed issue by initiating negotiations between the parties regarding the dispute and proposing possible ways to resolve it. During negotiations, the parties must jointly determine the most acceptable solution to resolve the disputed issue;
In case of violation of his/her rights and legitimate interests, the Consumer must first contact the retail market participant with an appeal/complaint/claim to have such participant eliminate the violation and restore the Consumer’s rights and legitimate interests;
The Consumer must attach to the appeal/complaint/claim any available original decisions or copies of decisions previously made regarding his/her appeal/complaint/claim, as well as, if available, other documents necessary for consideration of the appeal/complaint/claim, which are returned to the Consumer after consideration;
If the appeal does not contain the data necessary to make a reasoned decision, the retail market participant may, within no more than 3 calendar days, request additional information from the Consumer that is necessary for a full and objective review of the appeal/complaint/claim;
If the Consumer fails to provide the required information (documents) or explanations regarding the circumstances stated in the appeal/complaint/claim, the retail market participant must provide the Consumer with clarification (response) based on the information available to it. Failure by the Consumer to provide additional information is not grounds for the retail market participant to refuse to consider the Consumer’s appeal/complaint/claim;
Upon receiving an appeal/complaint/claim from the Consumer, the retail market participant must register it and consider it in accordance with the procedure set out in these Rules. If the Consumer does not agree with the decision made on his/her appeal/complaint/claim, he/she may appeal such decision by submitting a complaint to the Regulator or the energy ombudsman;
A complaint may be submitted by the Consumer within 1 year from the date the contested decision was made by the retail market participant, but no later than 1 month starting from the day following the day the Consumer became familiar with or received this decision. The retail market participant has the right not to consider a complaint submitted in violation of the specified period;
A period missed by the Consumer for a valid reason may be reinstated by an official of the retail market participant who, according to their job duties, has the authority to make such decisions;
A decision of the Regulator, energy ombudsman, or retail market participant that reviewed the appeal/complaint/claim may, in case of disagreement, be appealed by the Consumer or the retail market participant (regarding decisions of the Regulator or energy ombudsman) by applying to a court within the time limits established by the legislation of Ukraine.

Dispute Resolution

Resolution of Disputes Regarding Electricity Issues

All disputes and controversies arising from the interpretation and application of the Contract for the Supply of Electrical Energy to the Consumer or related to it, as well as other disputes that may arise in the relationship between LLC “Logistor-Energy” (hereinafter – Electricity Supplier) and the Consumer, are resolved through negotiations in a fair and prompt manner.

The Electricity Supplier undertakes to review complaints received from Consumers and notify them of the results of the review within one month.

If agreement is not reached through negotiations, disputes may be referred for resolution to the commercial courts of Ukraine in accordance with the jurisdiction and competence established by the current legislation of Ukraine and considered in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine.

The Consumer also has the right to submit an application for dispute resolution to the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (hereinafter – Regulator) in accordance with Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities” and in accordance with the terms of the contract and current legislation of Ukraine – contact details for appeals are provided via this link.

The Regulator ensures the protection of rights and legitimate interests of Consumers of goods (services) produced (provided) by business entities operating in the energy and public utilities sectors, consideration of appeals from such Consumers, dispute resolution, and provision of explanations on the application of the Regulator’s regulatory acts.

Consideration of Complaints and Dispute Resolution by the Regulator

The Regulator considers Consumer complaints in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Citizens’ Appeals”. Resolution of disputes arising between business entities operating in the energy and public utilities sectors is carried out in the procedure approved by the Regulator.

During the consideration of complaints and resolution of disputes, the Regulator has the right to request from business entities operating in the energy and public utilities sectors copies of documents, explanations, and other information necessary to establish the actual circumstances of the case and resolve disputes.

Before making a decision on the merits of the disputed issue, the Regulator may hold preliminary hearings involving interested parties and, if necessary, conduct unscheduled inspections. The procedure for conducting preliminary hearings is determined by the Regulator.

Based on the results of considering a complaint or resolving a dispute, the Regulator adopts a decision on:

termination of the violation by the business entity operating in the energy and public utilities sector of legislation in the relevant sector;
termination of the violation by the business entity operating in the energy and public utilities sectors of licensing conditions;
imposition of a fine on the business entity operating in the energy and public utilities sectors in the established manner;
termination of consideration of the applicant’s appeal.

The Regulator’s decision is provided to the business entity operating in the energy and public utilities sectors by sending or handing it over against signature. A decision made by the Regulator during pre-trial dispute resolution is binding on the dispute participants and may be appealed in court.

An appeal to the NCREKP or its territorial unit does not deprive the Consumer of the right to resolve the dispute in court.

Also, on issues of compliance with energy sector legislation, the Consumer may apply to:

State Inspectorate for Energy Supervision of Ukraine;
Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.

Procedure for Reviewing Complaints and Resolving Disputes

Participants in the retail market that carry out distribution or supply of electrical energy to Consumers are obliged to review complaints and resolve disputes in the manner defined by the Retail Electricity Market Rules, the Distribution System Code, and other regulatory acts of the Regulator;
Retail market participants, except for Consumers, must publish, taking into account the requirements of these Rules, the Distribution System Code, and other regulatory acts of the Regulator, on their official website: (Note: the original page appears to have an incomplete or nested bullet list here; the publication obligation likely refers to procedures, reports, registers, etc., as commonly required in such documents)
While carrying out their activities, including the review of appeals (complaints/claims) received from consumers, retail market participants must comply with the developed standards/requirements/procedures. Standards/requirements/procedures developed by retail market participants must meet the following requirements: (Note: specific requirements are listed in the original but appear partially nested or truncated in extraction; typically include timelines, transparency, non-discrimination, etc.)
The procedure for reviewing appeals, complaints, and claims developed by the electricity supplier and the system operator must provide for: (Note: again, detailed sub-requirements are implied in the original legislation-based text, such as registration, notification, etc.)
In case of amendments made by the Regulator to this section, retail market participants must make corresponding changes to their procedures as defined in the Retail Electricity Market Rules;
Retail market participants must conduct in-person reception of consumers, registration, and storage of consumer appeals/complaints/claims and their attachments in accordance with the procedure defined by the Retail Electricity Market Rules and/or the regulation on the information and consultation center for working with electricity consumers, approved by the Regulator. Retail market participants must perform the functions of the information and consultation center regardless of whether such a center has been established by the retail market participant. Such work may be performed by the relevant structural unit (sector) of the retail market participant or by a designated employee;
Retail market participants must record appeals (complaints/claims) received from the consumer in a separate unified register indicating the following data: (Note: typical fields include registration number, date, consumer details, essence of the appeal, responsible person, status, etc.)
Information and/or materials received by the retail market participant from the consumer or from a structural unit of this retail market participant must be attached to the appeal/complaint/claim;
All appeals (complaints/claims) are registered by the retail market participant as received: (Note: likely continues with on the day of receipt or next working day)
In case of a repeated appeal (complaint/claim) by the Consumer on an issue that was not resolved on the merits by the retail market participant and was recorded as resolved, the retail market participant must: (Note: re-open/review the case, correct the status, etc.)
The retail market participant reviews the appeal/complaint/claim in the shortest possible time, but no later than 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal/complaint/claim, unless a shorter period is established by applicable legislation, the Retail Electricity Market Rules, the Transmission System Code, and the Distribution System Code;
If during the review of the appeal (complaint/claim) it is necessary to carry out a technical inspection or expertise of the commercial metering device, the review period is suspended for the duration of the technical inspection or expertise, of which the consumer who submitted the appeal (complaint/claim) is notified;
The counting of the review period in this case resumes from the date of receipt of the results of the technical inspection or expertise, of which the consumer who submitted the appeal (complaint/claim) is notified. In this case, the total review period for the specified appeal (complaint/claim) may not exceed 45 days;
Appeals (complaints/claims) of household Consumers who have privileges established by law are reviewed on a priority basis.
The electricity supplier reviews Consumer appeals regarding verification of the correctness of the electricity bill, and the system operator reviews the bill for distribution (transmission) services, within 5 working days from the date of receipt of such appeal;
Together with the response to the Consumer, information is provided regarding alternative mechanisms and ways to resolve the relevant disputes (issues) and contact details of the responsible authorities.