Why are heating charges billed even when there is no consumption?

Central heating charges may continue to be billed even if the owner does not reside in the premises and does not actually consume heat. To stop these charges, one must go through the process of opting out of the service, which is complicated.

This was highlighted by Oleksandr Trokhymets, chairman of the UNBA Committee on energy law, during a live broadcast of «Vechir.LIVE».

The host of Novyny.LIVE cited data from the monitoring resource OpenDataBot, according to which the number of legal proceedings regarding utility debt in Ukraine has exceeded 800,000. In the first half of 2026 alone, more than 108,000 such cases were opened, and 43% of the new cases involved heating debts specifically.

O. Trokhymets explained that the payment mechanism for heat differs from that for electricity. If a premises is not in use and the electricity meter shows zero consumption, no electricity charges are billed. At the same time, for centralized heating, charges may be billed based on the area of the premises, even if the owner does not live there, has shut off the radiators, or the meter has not recorded any consumption.

Such charges can only be stopped after completing the procedure to opt out of centralized heating. However, according to the chairman of the UNBA Committee, the technical disconnection from the system and the legal formalities involved in this procedure are extremely complicated for consumers, which is why debts continue to accumulate.

The advocate noted that similar disputes have already arisen in practice. In particular, in one case, consumers who had not actually used any heat were billed nearly one million hryvnias. A court ruling was issued in the case, which is currently being appealed.

According to O. Trokhymets, in such cases, it is necessary to determine not only the amount of the accrued debt but also whether the heat supplier actually provided the heat for which it issued the bill. The practice of adjudicating such disputes reveals instances where charges were assessed despite the absence of any actual service provided.