Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan has proposed introducing new fees for long-term visits, remote video visits and telephone calls at correctional facilities. A draft regulatory document has been submitted for public discussion.
Under the proposal, fees for using rooms for long-term visits would depend on their capacity and be calculated based on the basic estimated value (BRV) in effect on the date of payment. Even if a room is used for less than 24 hours, the full daily rate would apply.
The proposed daily rates are 20% of the BRV for a two-person room, 25% for a three-person room and 30% for a four-person room.
Remote video visits would cost 0.5% of the BRV per minute, while telephone calls would be charged at 0.1% of the BRV per minute.
The draft also provides for exemptions from long-term visiting room fees for certain categories of people. These include prisoners themselves, children aged 16 and under who arrive without another adult accompanying them, people with Group I disabilities, and family members included in the Social Register.
However, these exemptions would not apply to remote video visits or telephone calls.
If a service is only partially provided or cannot be delivered due to technical malfunctions involving equipment, communication networks, the Qal’a system or other circumstances beyond the user's control, no fee would be charged for the portion of the service not provided.
Money deducted from a prisoner's account for a video visit or telephone call that did not take place must be refunded to the prisoner's personal account.
If a visit or call is terminated early due to the user's actions, however, fees for the time already used would not be refunded.
