GWP Rejects Claim that Water Taxes to Be Set in Vacant Residential Spaces

Georgian Water and Power (GWP), a leading company in water supply to the population of Tbilisi and to state organizations, industrial and commercial facilities, launched a new form of water tariff payment in October, news agency Business Press News (bpn) claims.

According to the new system, the water tariff will be set at 3.15 GEL per resident.

At the news, fears were raised that the tariff would be applied even to those residential spaces where officially no one lives, if the company suspects that someone may be living in the building. Concerns ran on social media that even a small amount of electric power consumption at a specific address might become the basis for GWP setting the water tax there.

As Energo Ombudsmen Salome Vardiashvili told bpn, GWP’s action is unfair and unfounded.

“According to the company’s new system of tax assessment, if the company suspects that someone is living in an apartment, the company might be eligible to charge fees. According to that system, GWP would contact electricity distribution company Telasi and if even a small amount of electricity consumption is identified at a given address, customers get instantly charged for water,” she said, adding that the new form of payment represents a potential danger for users who own two or more properties in terms of being charged double taxes “even if water has not actually been consumed there.”

GWP reacted to the claims, stating that there will be no such system of setting water taxes based on electricity consumption.

“There were a certain group of customers registered in our company’s database who had not been charged for water. Based on information verified by us, those subscribers had been consuming GWP services, and as such were then charged water taxes. As a result, it was decided that at this stage that accrued taxes should be charged per resident,” GWO said.

Natia Liparteliani