Riga Vice Mayor Edvards Ratnieks has called on municipal enterprises to refrain from charging late fees for January payments. The reason is the abnormal cold, which has led to a sharp increase in the amounts on Riga residents' bills.
The proposal concerns the largest service providers and management companies in the city: Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks, Rīgas nami, Rīgas siltums, and Rīgas ūdens. According to the plan, residents will be able to pay off their debts for the coldest month of winter in installments - until the start of the next heating season - without any financial penalties.
"Considering that January is one of the coldest months in recent years, I discussed with the executive director of the Riga municipality, Jānis Lange, the possibility for municipal enterprises not to impose fines on January heating bills and to allow residents to pay off the unpaid amount before the start of the next heating season," noted Edvards Ratnieks.
According to the vice mayor, this measure is one of the few available tools for the municipality to quickly assist residents amid increased energy consumption.
At the same time, Ratnieks is urging the government to take more active actions at the national level. He suggests considering support mechanisms similar to those that were in place during the Covid-19 pandemic and in the first year of the war in Ukraine, when the state compensated part of the heating costs. The vice mayor also advocated for more flexible payment distribution for services from TEC-2 to ease the burden on the energy production and consumption chain.
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