Human Rights Defender Receives Complaints About Inadequate Services from Electric Networks and Veolia Water

The Human Rights Defender regularly receives complaints stating that the "Electric Networks of Armenia" and "Veolia Water" companies do not provide satisfactory services. The HRD reports that an investigation has also been conducted on social networks and in media regarding these issues.

In the first half of 2024, the Office of the Human Rights Defender received a total of 79 written and oral complaints from 106 individuals concerning the "Electric Networks of Armenia" and "Veolia Water" companies. Specifically, there were 49 written and oral complaints about Veolia Water from 74 individuals. The complaints mainly revolved around issues related to failure to provide water supply according to the established schedule, interruptions in water supply, lack of proper notifications regarding water disconnections, as well as concerns about the quality and pressure of drinking water, among others.

In relation to these issues, the Human Rights Defender's office has also conducted regular monitoring of social media and studied the concerns raised by citizens. Given that these issues are widespread and persistent, the Human Rights Defender finds the current situation to be absolutely unacceptable, especially concerning when people are deprived of access to water and sanitation during the summer months.

Based on the above, the Defender emphasizes once more the need to investigate the causes of emergency outages and to work on minimizing them. There should also be more stringent compliance with the regulations pertaining to drinking water supply services and proper notifications regarding water supply interruptions.

Numerous complaints have also been received regarding the "Electric Networks of Armenia" company. Specifically, 30 written and oral complaints were received from 32 individuals, mainly related to prolonged power outages without prior proper notifications, causing material damages, disrupting proper work activities, and leading to financial losses.

As a result of these outages, significant damage is inflicted on both individual citizens and various organizations. During monitoring visits to special institutions, the Human Rights Defender has received numerous complaints that during frequent power outages, it becomes impossible to ensure the right of persons with disabilities to move freely. For instance, there are establishments designed to facilitate the mobility of persons with physical disabilities, yet due to recurrent outages without proper notifications, issues often arise in moving them from one floor to another and other related concerns.

Regular outages also disrupt the normal functioning of several state bodies. For example, due to frequent power cuts at the administrative building of the Defender's office, the effective organization of electronic document circulation is hindered, as well as the provision of legal consultations via hotlines or other fixed urban and internal phone numbers, the organization of rapid response visits if necessary, and hosting meetings with international partners, etc.

It should be noted that frequent fluctuations in energy supply can also cause significant damage to computer equipment and other devices. Observations by the Office of the Human Rights Defender indicate that the frequent power interruptions are not always due to planned or emergency repairs.

Considering the above, the Defender highlights that in order to regulate the frequent outages of electricity supplied to consumers, it is necessary to examine the causes of emergency unscheduled outages, to work on minimizing them (including through ensuring backup power supply), and to take steps to improve the reliability and safety indicators of the electricity system.

It is important to emphasize that the Human Rights Defender has addressed these two cases in more detail in the 2023 annual report. We would also like to inform that the Human Rights Defender has sent letters regarding the identified issues to the "Electric Networks of Armenia" and "Veolia Water" companies. These issues require urgent solutions, and the Human Rights Defender will remain diligent in addressing them.