In the near future, MPs may consider a government draft law that would restrict the right to register vehicles to those with utility bills. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
reports with reference to the website of the Verkhovna Rada.
If the draft law is passed, the Unified Register of Debtors will be checked during car registration at the service centres of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If the register reveals any debts on utility bills, the registration of the vehicle will be impossible.
At the same time, cars can be purchased under a power of attorney, but citizens with debts will not be able to register them in their own names.
According to the draft law card, the need for its adoption is due to the fact that the existing enforcement measures are outdated and need to be modernised.
The document also notes that the draft law has no comments and has already been approved by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
In an exclusive commentary , Oleh Popenko, Chairman of the Union of Consumers of Public Utilities, commented on the initiative. He stressed that this draft law will not solve the problem of utility debts, but will only exacerbate it.
“The problem of debts is a systemic problem. Indeed, there is a segment of the population that deliberately does not pay their debts. But most people are simply unable to pay their utility bills due to their low income. And banning car registration will not solve this problem in any way,” the expert believes. He stressed that the average salary of people living in rural areas is UAH 7-10 thousand per month.
“And the gas bill for a 70-80 square metre house is UAH 5 thousand per month. And this draft law does not solve the issue of how people can live on the money left over after paying the utility bills. It does not solve any social problems, but rather aims to squeeze the last Ukrainian,” said Popenko.
The chairman of the Union of Consumers of Public Utilities also reminded that there is a problem in Ukraine that Ukrainians often receive illegal charges for utilities and some cases are already being resolved in courts.
“Massive illegal payments for utilities lead to massive non-payments. What are massive illegal payments? A city of millions is taken and residents are charged extra money, for example, for heating, because the heating company decided so. This happened in both Kyiv and Kharkiv,” he said.
Also, some people are charged utility bills for their homes that are under occupation, the expert added.
“Some people who have long since left the occupied cities – Berdiansk, Mariupol, and other cities – received utility bills until the end of 2023. And these are also debts. And it turns out that these people will also not be able to register a car?” said Oleg Popenko.
In his opinion, the Government should first solve the problems with illegal charges for utilities and only then adopt any new draft laws related to utilities.
Author – Alyona Kaplina