Senate raises concerns over waste debt blocking electricity payments

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The Senate Committee on Agrarian, Water Management and Ecology has sent specific inquiries to relevant ministries and departments regarding mechanisms to improve payment discipline for waste collection and disposal services, law enforcement practices, and problems arising in implementation. This was reported by the Senate press service.

Under the Law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Strengthen Payment Discipline in the Field of Waste Collection and Disposal Services,” adopted on March 7, 2025, if a consumer has outstanding debt for mandatory household waste services and fails to clear it within five days of receiving an SMS notification, their ability to make electricity payments is temporarily suspended.

However, several issues have caused public concern. The “HET” application of Regional Electric Networks JSC does not display information on household waste debts, there is incomplete integration between the Toza Mekon electronic billing system and the billing system of Regional Electric Networks JSC, and some consumers lack formal contracts for waste services or have unclear subscriber account data.

Given these circumstances, the Senate Committee requested the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change, as well as the Ministry of Energy, to provide accurate information on the data exchange problems and propose practical solutions.

It should be noted that in Uzbekistan, restrictions preventing consumers with unpaid waste debts from paying for electricity are scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2025.