Tajikistan criminalizes fraud with electricity use in the midst of energy crisis

On April 5, the Ministry of Energy and the Water Resources of Tajikistan announced Changes in the Land Criminal Code, which introduce prison sentences for fraud with electricity use. The move is a first in Central Asia, where illegal electricity consumption is usually an administrative crime, punishable by fines.

The changes to the Criminal Code followed a closed government meeting on 27 March, during which President Emomali Rahmon expresses concern about “the irrational use of electricity and losses that exceed the acceptable standards” and instructed the introduction of criminal liability for the illegal use of electricity and not paying it. The bill, immediately drawn up by the Ministry of Justice and quickly approved by the parliament of the country, changed Article 253 of the criminal law of Tajikistan – causing property damage caused by deception or abuse of trust.

Article 253 now stipulates that changing the meters of electricity meter or bypassing the meter to prevent payment, if committed within one year after an administrative fine, will result in a fine of 365 to 547 calculation units or imprisonment of a maximum of three years (a calculation unit is currently equal to around $ 7.5). If the crime is committed on a large scale, by a person who uses their official government position, or by a group that acts in conspiracy, the punishment is a fine of 800 to 1,000 calculation units or prison sentence of three to six years, with an additional prohibition on the cover of certain government positions or the involvement of certain activities for a maximum of three years. The offenses committed on a particularly large -scale or organized group or criminal organization are punished by six to 10 years in prison and a ban on covering certain government positions or performing certain activities up to 5 years.

“Large -scale” refers to material damage that is valued at more than 1,000 calculation units; “Especially large -scale” refers to material damage that is valued at more than 2,000 calculation units. However, if the perpetrator, with the exception of mainly large -scale crimes, fully compensates the material damage before the court issues an opinion, the court can impose a fine and abandon a prison sentence.

With the introduction of the bill by legislators, Minister of Justice Muzaffar Ashourriyon noted That consumers who tamper measurements or bypass the meters to prevent them from having to pay for electricity “damaging the economic interests of the country.”

However, the minister did not talk about how such fraud is often an economic necessity in Tajikistan, where the average monthly income floats around $ 200, especially in light of The increase of April 1 of 15 percent in electricity prices. Since 2010, the costs of electricity for household consumers have increased four -fold, in accordance with the World Bank’s recommendations to align the electricity price to the costs of production to make the country’s electricity sector self -sufficient and less dependent on foreign investments. But the price switches exceed both the growth of salaries and pensions in Tajikistan and the efficiency of the electricity sector when complying with the consumption needs of the growing population.

More than 30 years after he became independent, Tadjikistan Still requires Significant foreign investments in energy infrastructure and institutional reforms of the energy sector. Barqi Tojik, the state monopoly in the field of electricity production and distribution, has debts equal to a third of the country’s GDP. Relies of energy production on glacier-fed hydropower, which is subject to large fluctuations and decreasing resources in the light of climate change and melting glaciers. The government continues to dive enormous resources in Rogun, a power plant of 3,600 MW that has been in construction since 1976 and has blown a budget hole half of the size of GDP of the country.

Residents of Tajikistan are still confronted with electricity ration, planned but unannounced Black -outs that usually last well into the spring, popularly known as the ‘electricity limit’. The limit results in economic losses up to 3 percent of GDP of the country and up to a third of the country’s agricultural production, which preventes the assets of the inhabitants of Tajikistan to hind the rising costs of electricity.

Criminalization of fraud with electricity use, the newest desperate movement to strengthen the inefficient energy sector, can do little to change behavior, given an economically disturbed population that needs electricity to survive.