Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan has introduced a “model consumer” status for businesses using electricity and natural gas.
The relevant amendments to the rules governing the use of energy resources were approved by a presidential decree dated 22 September.
The status will be available to non-household consumers connected to automated metering systems and using meters with remote-control functions.
Companies must have no overdue debts, violations of energy-use and metering rules, or payment discipline problems during the previous two months.
Such enterprises will be subject to a new payment procedure. Before the start of each billing month, they will only need to make an advance payment of at least 15% of the consumption volume specified in the contract. The remaining amount can be paid in installments during the month.
The required prepayment amount will be calculated automatically based on data from metering and billing systems. Companies will not need to submit a separate application to obtain the status.
If the balance in a customer’s account runs out and electricity or gas supplies are automatically suspended, this will not be considered a violation of payment discipline.
The status can nevertheless be revoked. Grounds for losing it include overdue debt, consumer-caused disruption of data exchange with the metering system, or the detection of unauthorized use of energy resources.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke about plans to reduce mandatory prepayment for electricity and natural gas from 100% to 15% for certain businesses on 18 August during an open dialogue with entrepreneurs in Khorezm Region.
The president said the full prepayment requirement reduces the amount of working capital available to businesses. According to him, the energy management system needs to be adapted to the current needs of businesses and their development plans.
The requirement for legal entities to make 100% prepayments has been in effect since 1 July 2024. A similar system was previously applied from July 2017 to February 2019, after which the mandatory advance payment was reduced to 50%.
At the end of 2023, the Ministry of Energy explained the return to full prepayment by violations committed by consumers, including unauthorized connections to networks and falsification of consumption data.
The decree also changes differentiated electricity tariffs for large consumers.
From 9:00 to 17:00, a reduced coefficient will apply, making the tariff 1.5 times lower than the standard rate.
At night, the existing discount will be abolished, and electricity will be charged at the standard tariff.
