Today, in the capital (as well as in other populated areas of our country), organizations providing public utilities enter into direct contracts with individual consumers. And all would be well if the service providers didn't grossly violate the law in doing so.
So, recently, one of my readers contacted me with a complaint about the actions of Kyivvodokanal employees. The concerned woman reported that when signing a contract for cold water supply to her apartment, she was asked for photocopies of her passport, identification code, and title deeds to the apartment, which were then retained at the Kyivvodokanal office.
It should be stated right away that this concern is far from unfounded. After all, law enforcement agencies have registered numerous crimes (many of which remain unsolved to this day) in which criminals, having somehow obtained photocopies of someone's documents through various means, then seize their home, take out a loan from a store or bank in their name, commit other illegal transactions, and so on.
To verify the veracity of what I'd heard, I immediately called the Kyivvodokanal contact center at (044) 202-02-02. The operator who answered confirmed the requirement to provide photocopies of the above-mentioned documents, which, she said, would then be archived. When I asked whether such demands were illegal and what would happen if I refused to provide the photocopies, the answer was brief and unambiguous: "Then the water supply contract with you will not be concluded!" But what should it really be?
According to agreements approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, a list of consumer data must be entered into agreements based on the individual's documents, such as a passport, a document confirming the assignment of a taxpayer registration number, etc. Therefore, an employee of a housing and utility services organization, when drawing up an agreement with the owner of residential premises, has the right to verify documents confirming ownership. However, Ukrainian legislation does not provide for the right or obligation of housing and utility service providers to request and retain copies of the above documents! Consequently, consumers are not required to provide copies of the documents required to conclude an agreement for housing and utility services.
Thousands of our fellow citizens are currently facing a similar problem. Many of them have sought assistance from the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. As experts explained to them there, collecting and storing copies of documents required for concluding contracts with consumers is permitted only with the consumer's voluntary consent. This means the consumer has the right to choose whether or not to provide these copies to the supplier! The consumer can also (and, in my personal opinion, is simply obligated to) personally affix a disclaimer on the copies of documents regarding the exclusive use of the copies for the preparation and conclusion of the contract.
As I was informed by the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights (you can read the text of the letter in this publication), "in accordance with Part 8 of Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine 'On the Protection of Personal Data,' personal data is processed in a form that permits identification of the individual to whom it relates, for no longer than is necessary for the legitimate purposes for which it was collected or subsequently processed. Therefore, after the conclusion of a contract, companies providing housing and communal services are obligated to return copies of documents to the consumer or destroy them."
According to the Secretariat's lawyers, this position is fully supported by the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NKREKU). Specifically, in its clarification letter dated August 5, 2015, No. 7990/15/61-15, NKREKU confirmed that applicants' failure to provide copies of documents or to provide permission to make such copies cannot be grounds for refusing to enter into contracts for the provision of housing and public utilities or water supply services.
Finally, it remains to be added that violation of the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Personal Data" entails administrative and criminal liability.
Vladimir Shirochenko
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