The deadline for submitting objections to the equalization bills for heating is August 31, warned the leader of “Izpra se.BG“ Maya Manolova in an interview with “Euronews Bulgaria“. She called on all heating consumers to check the invoices received from “Toplofikatsiya“ and if there are suspicions of incorrectly charged amounts, to react before the deadline expires.
“August 31 is categorically the last deadline in which one can object to this bill. After that, objections are no longer accepted and the consumer, the citizen, will have to go to court“, warned Manolova.
According to her, legal disputes with “Toplofikatsiya“ are difficult and can burden consumers with additional costs, and therefore, an objection before August 31 is the most accessible way for citizens to dispute the amounts charged to them.
Manolova reported that in the office of “Izprav se.BG“ Many signals are coming in from citizens, with the main complaints this year being about excessive amounts of hot water and high amounts for building installations.
She gave an example of a case of an 85-year-old woman living alone, who was charged for an additional consumption of 55 cubic meters of hot water and an additional payment of 520 euros.
“In some cases, either no report was made or the data was incorrectly transferred, so this can be corrected“, explained Manolova.
From “Izpra se.BG“ advise citizens who dispute their equalization bills to send the objection simultaneously to the relevant heat accountant and to “Toplofikatsiya“, since according to Manolova there are already cases in which heat accountants refuse to accept objections.
The second topic that Manolova warned about is the approaching December 31, 2026, by which heat meters, heat allocators and individual hot water meters must be replaced with devices with remote reading.
In the case of non-replaced devices, the consequence for consumers will not be a fine, but charging for consumption at maximum values, she warned.
“There should be no fine, but maximum reading of indicators. That is, if you have not replaced them with remote-readable ones, during the next heating season, from January 1, you will be charged the maximum value“, said Manolova.
In her words, this means that regardless of the household's actual consumption, maximum amounts for hot water and heating can be charged.
“Regardless of whether you have used it or not, you will be charged the maximum parameters“, she warned.
Therefore, Manolova appealed to the ruling majority and the members of parliament to undertake legislative changes and give households additional time to replace the appliances.
“Therefore, I call on the members of parliament to extend the deadline for replacing the heat meters of people who use heating. Do it! Support the people, because otherwise there will really be unbearable heating bills next August“, said the leader of “Izpra se.BG“.
Manolova insisted that the deadline be extended not only for heat meters and heat distributors, but also for hot water meters, which must also be remotely read by the end of 2026.
We recall that according to data from one of the heat accountants, only 75,000 hot water meters remain from their clients in Sofia, which must be replaced by the end of the year - or one third of the households in the capital.
According to Manolova, the requirement in the remaining few months for tens of thousands of households to purchase and install the new devices will also lead to significant additional costs for citizens.
In the interview, she also made a broader appeal to the deputies to reconsider the role of companies for share distribution.
„Review the existence and powers of heat accountants. Eliminate heat accountants. This service should be provided by the District Heating Company itself“, said Manolova.