Are We Paying for Someone Else's Water? Latvia Proposes Changing the Meter System 0 16

According to a representative of the initiative, the current system, where each apartment owner is responsible for the installation, verification, and reporting of their water meter readings, is ineffective and creates an unfair financial burden. The main issue is the so-called "water consumption difference," or losses arising from inaccurate meters of different classes or untimely reporting of readings. This difference is distributed among all residents of the building, causing diligent payers to overpay for the imperfections of the system, explains the initiative's author.

In his opinion, the current regulation allows for a situation where residents themselves have to monitor complex calibration deadlines, creating bureaucratic chaos and opportunities for manipulation of readings. Unlike electricity and gas metering, where a professional service provider is responsible for the measuring devices, in water supply, all responsibility is placed on the consumer, states the initiative.

The man urges the Saeima to amend the Law on Water Supply Services and the relevant Cabinet of Ministers regulations, establishing that the cold and hot water meters installed in apartments become the property and responsibility of the respective service providers (or their authorized representatives).

He proposes to stipulate that service providers are obliged to ensure the installation of uniform class meters, their sealing, and regular calibration at their own expense. Additionally, he believes that priority should be given to implementing meters with remote reading capabilities to eliminate manual reporting of readings and errors.