On liability for unauthorized connection to the power grid

What is an unauthorized connection?

Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 442 states that the following types of unauthorized connections should be considered under this concept:

• Non-contractual, these include any connection to the electrical network without regulating the relationship between the consumer and the company providing the service. That is, there is no agreement between them. The presence of a metering device in this case is not taken into account.

  
  Rice. 1. Unauthorized connection to overhead lines

• Unaccounted. In this case, we are talking about direct connections to the energy system, bypassing consumption meters. In these cases, there is an agreement on the provision of electricity supply services, but part of the electrical equipment (or all) is connected to the network directly, without a meter. Which, in essence, is also theft.

  
  An example of an unaccounted unauthorized connection diagram

Roskomnadzor (the government body that controls energy sales in Russia) gives a broader interpretation of the concept of “spontaneous connections”; according to the definition of this federal service, these include:

• Any connection without a permit (service agreement), even with metering devices.
• Interference with the operation of electricity meters, unauthorized unsealing of devices, changes in their operating position, damage to the mechanism, etc.

  
  An example of intervention in the design of a mechanical electric meter (biting the teeth on the gearbox)

• The use of special equipment and various methods to underestimate actual meter readings.
• Operation of metering devices with obvious physical damage or out of order. If a malfunction or inoperability of the electric meter is detected, the service provider should be immediately informed about this fact.

What methods do ordinary people use to steal resources?

To account for the kilowatts of electricity consumed by apartment buildings, or more precisely, by each entrance, a special communal meter is installed at the entrance. A main riser runs from it, from which wires are installed to supply electricity to each dwelling.

The consumption of resources for each apartment is recorded on an individual metering device, which people use to steal electricity.

In general, theft methods vary, and the most common ones can be found in the following list:

1. Bypassing the meter, special wires are connected and an additional device (bug) is installed.
2. Periodically, a switch is made to a temporary counter in order to be able to rewind the consumed kilowatts.
3. Magnet. Such a device will easily slow down the metering device and even stop it.
4. Using a neutral cable and connecting to contactless wiring.
5. The use of a device that absorbs electrical impulses.
6. Purchasing meters that are initially set up for theft.

Everyone must understand that resources cannot be provided for free, and therefore payment for consumed kilowatts is the responsibility of residents, and not just a desire.

Attention! Failure to pay for the use of electricity cannot be regarded as fraud, since this is a completely different legal provision.

Fraud will be the use of special devices to hide the amount of kilowatts consumed.

How can violations be detected?

The contract between the consumer and the service provider stipulates the period for welding the metering devices. In addition, electric companies are allowed to organize a control service, whose responsibility is to check electricity meters and detect energy metering violations. It is during such raids that, in most cases, non-contractual and unaccounted connections are identified.

Controller raids provide the greatest effectiveness in identifying spontaneous connections

When the fact of a violation is established, representatives of the electricity company draw up a corresponding report, for example, about illegal connection to the meter. The document is drawn up in two copies, one is given to the offender (against signature), the second is transferred to the technical department of the energy company, where a decision is made on further actions. As a rule, a statement of claim is filed in the district magistrate court at the residence address of the offender.

Important point. The act indicates the maximum damage, which is calculated based on the cross-section of the input wires. The judge takes into account the amount of damage caused and the basis for this makes a decision on the degree of liability, it can be:

• Criminal.
• Civil law.
• Administrative and legal.

Punishment for stealing electricity

After establishing the fact of illegal use of energy, the amount of damage caused is calculated. If the amount is significant, the victim is issued an application for criminal prosecution.

What punishment can follow for such theft? Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains the following types of punitive sanctions:

1. fine;
2. forced labor;
3. restriction or imprisonment.

In practice, when establishing the consumer’s guilt, the court is limited to imposing a fine if the theft was carried out by a private individual. Proving the fact of theft is quite simple; the act allows you to record any unlawful influence on metering devices or other cases of illegal connection to networks.

The application of other sanctions may occur if, as a result of the violator’s actions, a particularly large amount of damage is caused, or if the following qualifying circumstances are established:

1. actions of the perpetrators as part of a group of persons;
2. unlawful actions of an organized group.

The establishment of such signs will be carried out at the stage of investigation of the case by law enforcement officers. A specific manifestation of such cases may be unaccounted consumption by several residents on the same landing of a house, who have agreed in advance to steal.

What fine does the violator face if the theft is reliably proven? Under the first part of the norm under consideration, the fine can be up to three hundred thousand rubles, or in the amount of the salary and other income of the culprit for a period of up to two years. Considering that in addition to the fine, the amount of energy received will have to be paid in full, the punishment will be significant for any citizen.

How can you avoid criminal liability for such an offense? If the guilty person realizes the illegality of his actions, he can fully compensate for the damage even after a criminal case has been initiated. In this case, it is possible to achieve the termination of the criminal case due to reconciliation of the parties.

The possibility of reconciliation depends only on the victim; in the absence of his consent, the case will be considered on a general basis. In practice, the supplier meets citizens halfway provided that the debt is fully repaid and does not object to the termination of the criminal case.

From the news for reference:

“A draft law has been sent to the Government of the Russian Federation, which proposes to introduce criminal liability for the theft of electrical energy. The bill provides for imprisonment for up to six years. If the law is adopted, then theft of electricity will threaten the perpetrators with a significant fine of up to half a million rubles, or forced labor for up to five years with restriction of freedom, or imprisonment for up to 6 years.”

Author of the article

Dmitry Leonov

Work experience 15 years, specialization - housing, family, inheritance, land, criminal cases.

Author's rating

721

Articles written

712

about the author

Useful information on criminal cases

• My wallet was stolen, what should I do?
• Evidence of shoplifting
• Criminal liability for robbery
• What is the punishment for stealing a phone?
• Theft with illegal entry into a home
• Pickpocketing
• Bicycle theft
• Attempted theft
• Passport theft
• Report of car theft
• Break-in
• What does a minor face for theft?
• What to do if your documents are stolen
• Car theft
• Liability for shoplifting
• Is it possible to withdraw a theft report?
• Petty theft
• Apartment robbery
• Stealing money
• Attempted car theft - article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
• Sample statement to the police about theft of property
• Electricity theft
• Driver's license stolen

Responsibility for unauthorized connection to electrical networks

The measure of liability towards the violator is determined by the court. His decision is largely determined by what type of unauthorized connection took place. Depending on this, administrative or criminal punishment may be applied to the violator.

Fine for stealing electricity

If there was a fact of independent connection after the consumer was disconnected for non-payment, then in most cases the court is guided by Article 7.19 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation and imposes a fine corresponding to the offense. The verbatim content of the article is given below.

Text of Article 7.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation

The matter will not be limited to paying a fine; the violator will be required to pay for the electricity used. If there was unaccounted use, then it is considered that the consumption was carried out around the clock with the maximum permissible power (it is calculated based on the cross-section of the input wires), during the entire period from the date of the last check. That is, the amount can be quite impressive.

If there was a connection without a contract, then you will be required to pay significantly more for the electricity used than if you tried to deceive the meter or an unauthorized connection after a disconnection due to non-payment. In such cases, consumption is calculated over three years, taking into account daily round-the-clock use with maximum load.

Payment of the resulting debt must be made no later than the established deadline, otherwise administrative arrest may be applied to the violator.

Criminal liability

If there was an attempt to connect the light bypassing the meter or an unauthorized connection without an agreement, then there is a high probability that such violations will be considered as theft, for which criminal liability is imposed. In these cases, the court can operate under Article 165 (causing damage) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and a fine of 80 thousand rubles.

The issue of amending Art. is currently being considered. 158 (theft) of the Criminal Code. Now it is used in cases of theft from oil pipelines; if unauthorized connection to energy systems is added to the definition, then the measure of liability will become significantly stricter.

What to do when disconnected

Not all electricity thieves act from criminal motives. Sometimes this is a forced measure associated with disconnecting housing from the network for non-payment.

In such a case, it is easier to pay additional penalties than to risk huge fines and imprisonment for the accumulated debt. But if the housing was not connected at all or was technically cut off from the common line, the procedure will be a little more complicated.

The correct procedure after disconnecting:

1. an application for (re)connection is submitted to the management company or directly to the electricity supplier;
2. the owner receives permission from Rostechnadzor - only for facilities with a power of over 100 kW (for legal entities) or over 15 kW (for individuals);
3. a new technical connection agreement is concluded with the service provider;
4. The supplier's representative travels to the site that requires connection and performs work under the contract. Including installing meters (in case of absence);
5. The network company supplies electricity to the consumer and draws up the corresponding act.

Thus, for illegal manipulations with meters you can now lose 30,000 rubles. No one has abolished criminal liability for particularly large thefts. And soon the punishment may become even tougher. So you should think twice before deceiving an online company. A reconnection procedure is available for persistent defaulters.

How to avoid punishment or prove innocence?

If the fact of an illegal connection has been established, then it is not possible to escape responsibility. In such cases, you should try to reduce the fine and convince the judge to decriminalize liability, that is, reclassify the violation from criminal to administrative or civil. This can be done through voluntary compensation for damage caused to the service provider.

If you connect to the power grid without authorization, you will be able to partially prove your innocence only if the disconnection was carried out in violation of the established rules (the regulations for this procedure are given in Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 442). To do this, you need to file a complaint with the company providing energy supply services, simultaneously duplicating the appeal with letters to the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Prosecutor's Office. This will allow us to record the fact that the consumer’s actions were provoked by a violation on the part of the service provider.

It should be noted that even in case of violation of the shutdown regulations, the consumer does not avoid liability under Article 7.19 of the Administrative Code (the text of the article was given above). As a rule, the court does not consider violation of the full restriction procedure as a mitigating circumstance; accordingly, the imposition of penalties is almost impossible to avoid.

The most common methods of theft

The most common methods of theft of energy resources by unscrupulous homeowners have long been known and well studied. The main ones are:

• replacing the “zero” in the electrical circuit with the meter with grounded communications, sewer pipes or fittings;
• swapping “zero” and phase, in this case the counter will rewind the readings back;
• creation of a third-party electrical line that bypasses the electric meter excluded from the circuit;
• the use of technical devices that facilitate the operation of the meter in the opposite direction;
• the use of powerful magnets to stop or slow down the calculation of the amount of energy consumed;
• applying a physical action to the disk (applicable for disk electricity meters).

How to detect an illegal connection to the power grid?

You can detect the fact of unauthorized use of power grid resources or attempts to underestimate meter readings in the following ways:

• During a visual inspection . Despite the simplicity of the technique, it is quite effective. As a rule, this method detects attempts to influence the operation of the electric meter, which manifests itself in the form of broken seals or damage to the device body. As for illegal connections to overhead lines, they are not difficult to detect (see Fig. 1).
• Use of special devices . As a rule, these are hidden wiring sensors, voltage probes or current clamps. The latter are quite effective in detecting attempts to “deceive” the electric meter by replacing zero with “ground”. In this case, it is enough to measure the current at phase and zero, and then compare the readings. If discrepancies are found, this indicates a violation of energy accounting.

In practice, there are many cases where an illegal connection to the internal network of a third-party consumer is made. If electricity consumption has increased sharply, then this should raise suspicions; checking them yourself is quite simple. To do this, you must follow the following procedure:

1. Disconnect all electrical appliances from the power supply, even those in sleep mode.
2. Observe the electric meter readings. If the device continues to record electricity consumption, this clearly indicates an unauthorized connection.

If a “leakage” of electricity is detected, this should be reported to the company providing energy supply services. The control service will record the fact of connection, restore normal operation of the power grid, and the violator will be held accountable.

The law is harsh

As of January 1, 2022, the moratorium on power outages and the accrual of penalties for late payments ceased to apply. Let us remember that the relaxations introduced a year earlier were related to the pandemic. This does not mean that all debts were forgiven in 2022, but defaulters did not risk being left without electricity.

Now the conditions return to the original ones, which means that:

• Penalties will be charged for late payment.
• If payments are delayed for a long time, electricity supply may be suspended or terminated.
• In order for the light to return, you will have to pay a certain amount, and this will not happen immediately, but only within two days.

Effect of magnetic field on the counter

On the World Wide Web, scammers are massively advertising powerful magnets, but are they really that effective? Their effectiveness depends on the type of electric meter. Under the influence of a magnetic field, the impeller of the device slows down its rotation, and the meter readings become unreliable.

In apartment buildings, in addition to apartment-by-apartment meters, communal meters are also installed. If there is a meter in each apartment, the readings of the common house meter will differ from the common individual metering devices. This is not difficult to determine a month after you start using the magnet. Such “savings” are equated to the theft of energy resources, which is suppressed and severely punished.

If you use a magnet, you should immediately prepare for the following serious consequences:

• breakdown of the electric meter;
• attracting attention to the residents of the house from service providers;
• fine for electricity missed by the meter;
• disconnection from the power supply network.

If the controller detects a magnet, it draws up a protocol and issues a fine. If the meter is damaged by a magnetic device, it will need to be replaced. In case of refusal to pay the fine, in practice, the supply of energy resources is interrupted.

Modern electricity meters are equipped with a specialized tape that makes the influence of the magnetic field on the meter useless. There is no way to get rid of the tape; it is a kind of seal. When you try to influence it, the inscription “OPENED” instantly appears. The presence of such an inscription on the tape is equivalent to the removal of the seal. If the controller detects such an inscription, a fine is immediately issued.