UNJUSTIFIED ENRICHMENT AS A RESULT OF NON-CONTRACTUAL CONSUMPTION OF THERMAL ENERGY

Abstract

The provisions of the legislation on heat supply concerning non-contractual consumption of thermal energy in practice raise a number of questions. The possibility of collecting the cost of
heat using an increasing coefficient, the regulatory calculation since the last inspection and, in general, various approaches to non-contractual consumption of consumers with different legal status
demonstrate the punitive bias of the current legislation. The situations of non-contractual consumption
considered in the article allow us to conclude that the right to compensation for losses gives heat supply organizations the opportunity to recover amounts significantly exceeding the actual cost of supplying the resource (real damage and lost profits). It is substantiated that the application of the norms
on unjustified enrichment in a situation of non-contractual consumption of thermal energy will correspond to the nature of the relationship under consideration, subject to recovery in the amount of actual
consumption. However, before making the appropriate changes to Article 22 of the Federal Law of
July 27, 2010 No. 190-FZ "On Heat Supply" (hereinafter – the Law on Heat Supply), the protective
mechanism for unjustified enrichment cannot be applied according to the rules of Chapter 60 of the
Civil Code of the Russian Federation.