Gas meter maintenance will no longer be concern of consumers 

Maintenance service of gas meters installed within the project of introducing an automated gas metering control system (AGMCS) will be funded by gas supplying organizations, the “Hududgaztaminot” press service said.

It was reported that the installation of new gas meters for all categories of consumers will be completed by 2022. AGMCS should completely prevent the failures and accumulation of debts, reduce losses and warn the supplier about the illegal use of fuel. Ownership of all gas meters will be transferred from consumers to the gas supply companies.

“Now the consumers will neither wait for a notification for verification of meter, nor submit applications to the Center for Public Services or the Unified Portal of Interactive State Services. In other words, all service maintenance of gas metering devices and the costs associated with this (installation, removal, calibration, repair) will now be a responsibility not of consumers, but of gas supplying organizations,” the press service said.

Verification of new “smart meters” will be carried out every 10 years. In the case of a malfunction, the gas supplying organization will independently determine this fact and take appropriate measures.

“In the near future, consumers will no longer be bothered by various authorities and the associated costs for maintenance of meters. There will be only one request to consumers - to carefully treat new devices and take care of their safety,” the press service added.

According to JSC “Hududgaztaminot”, approximately 70% of consumers in the domestic sector have gas meters installed. Because majority of them have been operating for more than 10 years, during the verification processes it is identified that every second of them requires repair or even replacement.

According to current procedure, the gas supplying organization notifies about the need for verification of meter one month in advance. Then, the consumer needs to submit an application through the Center for Public Services or the Unified Portal of Interactive State Services, which costs 44,600 soums.

Within three days, the specialists of the gas supply organization dismantle the gas meter, and then transfer it to the metrological services of the “Uzstandart” Agency for verification. This procedure takes about 10 days, or even more, if the meter needs to be repaired. In almost half of the cases, the meters verified are malfunctioning and require replacement.

According to Olga Weisburg, the head of the metrological support department of JSC “Hududgaztaminot”, as of March 9, 2020, 85,866 calls were received through the Public Service Centers and Unified Portal of Interactive State Services requesting verification of the meter. According to the results of checking carried out by the metrological services of the “Uzstandart” Agency, 4,778 meters, or 5.5% of the total, were inoperative. More than 2.6 thousand meters were repaired and sent for re-verification, and over 33 thousand gas metering devices were serviceable and therefore were re-installed.