KRU Prishtina and KESCO fined

Since July of last year, when the decision of the Agency for Information and Privacy that water and electricity bills be distributed to consumers in sealed envelopes came into force, “KRU Prishtina” and KESCO have been fined a total of 65 thousand euros, due to its non-implementation. The Agency said that the decision aims to protect citizens' privacy, and these companies did not offer concrete answers to the fines received.

For non-implementation of the decision to distribute bills in envelopes, from July last year to March this year, the Information and Privacy Agency (AIP) has imposed a fine of 45 thousand euros on the Regional Water Company "Prishtina" and a fine of 20 thousand euros on KESCO.

The AIP decision, which foresees the distribution of bills to consumers in sealed envelopes in order to preserve privacy, has been in effect since July.

When they spoke about the fines imposed, the AIP warned about the lack of information to citizens regarding the importance of preserving privacy.

"The Information and Privacy Agency has set a deadline for public enterprises to do their billing in a secure manner and without allowing unauthorized persons to access the personal data of citizens. We have received several complaints and have imposed fines on 'KESCO' and 'KRU Prishtina'. We have also imposed a fine on 'KRU Prishtina'. Unfortunately, citizens are not aware of the importance or are not well informed about the protection of their privacy," says a response from the AIP.

When asked about the fines received, "KRU Prishtina" did not give a concrete answer, but said that the distribution of bills in envelopes is done in places where there is a greater frequency of citizens.

"From June 2024, we have started continuously distributing bills by envelope. This happens especially in more frequented places, such as shopping centers and collective housing. The tender has been open since last year and we have secured a large quantity of envelopes for distributing bills. The process is going well and continues to be so. While in private homes, the bill is printed and given to the consumer, which differs from collective and public housing," the response of "KRU Prishtina" states.

KEDS spokesman Lulzim Krasniqi did not mention the fines either, but said that around 700 consumers are planning to receive their electricity bills in envelopes.

"As we have announced, we are having major operational difficulties during this process, especially with the numbers of houses and apartments, the lack of their exact addresses and other difficulties. Over the past year, we have placed hundreds of thousands of invoices in envelopes and sent them to consumers. However, this is a process that is taking time and in order to find the best solution, there is a need for inter-institutional cooperation, where other alternatives would be considered - to find the best and most efficient solution", said Krasniqi.

The AIP decision includes all central and local public enterprises. For non-compliance, the minimum fine foreseen is 20 thousand euros, while the highest is up to 50 thousand euros.