Court orders defendant to pay BD7,000 in unpaid electricity and water bills

TDT | Manama                                                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Civil High Court of Appeal upheld an Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) beneficiary’s obligation to pay BD7,000 for consumption from August 2007 to May 2016.

This followed the court’s rejection of his insistence on the authority’s right to sue him due to the passage of five years, confirming that what the state receives in exchange for electricity and water is not considered a fee, but rather a general price for a commodity owned and provided by the state.

As a result, the Court added, the statute of limitations is 15 years. The EWA had filed a lawsuit, requesting that the defendant pay BD6,494.760, the value of electricity, water, and municipal bills, as well as cover expenses and attorney fees.

The defendant had a contract with EWA for a service that he used between August 2007 and May 2016; however, despite receiving monthly consumption invoices, he failed to make payments. The Court of First Instance ordered him to pay the claim amount, but he appealed the decision.

The Court of Appeal cited the provision of Article (5) of Decree-Law No.1 of 1996 on Electricity and Water, stating: the consumed water or electricity units are measured by meters provided by EWA, or by other methods deemed fit, provided that the charges for consumption of electricity, water and other services shall be collected according to an invoice based on the reading recorded by the meters provided by EWA, or through adopted means or estimates deemed appropriate in the event of a meter malfunction.

The consumption charges must be paid within the period specified by EWA. The fixed invoice submitted by EWA showing the value of the arrears owed by the appellant was sufficient in the Court’s view to prove the validity of the EWA’s assessment. As the lawsuit papers were devoid of evidence that the appellant had paid the amount owed by him, he is therefore obligated to pay the EWA the claim amount of BD6,494.490, the court ruling pointed out.