Last winter, the number of apartment households that were not charged any heating costs approached 200,000, and among them, about 23,000 households were found to have meter malfunctions as the cause.
Last winter, nearly 200,000 apartment households were not charged any heating costs, and among them, about 23,000 households were found to have meter malfunctions as the cause. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the office of Assemblywoman Lee Yeonhee of the Democratic Party of Korea on October 6, a total of 195,573 apartment households were found to have had zero heating costs for more than one month between November of last year and February of this year.
Among these, 23,443 households, or about 11.9% of the total, were not charged heating costs due to meter malfunctions. This figure represents an increase of 1,904 households (8.8%) compared to the same survey conducted the previous year.
Concentrated in Gyeonggi Province... followed by Seoul, Daegu, and Gyeongnam
By region, Gyeonggi Province had the largest number with 15,129 households, followed by Seoul (1,901 households), Daegu (1,623 households), Gyeongnam (1,439 households), and Incheon (1,235 households).
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport collects data on heating cost charges from local governments every summer, but the issue of "unauthorized heating" due to meter malfunctions remains unresolved.
The issue of "zero heating cost" first became a public topic in 2014 after actress Kim Busun's revelations, leading to ongoing debates over so-called "ghost heating" and "unfair cost allocation."
Many households did not use heating... Some cases of intentional damage
In this survey, among the approximately 195,000 households that were not charged heating costs, the largest proportion-131,528 households (67.3%)-were those that did not actually use heating. Vacant homes accounted for 30,641 households (15.7%), those unoccupied due to travel made up 4,824 households (2.5%), and other reasons were cited for 5,136 households (2.6%).
In one apartment complex in Gyeonggi Province, a case was detected where a meter was intentionally damaged to avoid paying heating costs. Under current regulations, such intentional damage can result in criminal charges, and the household may be charged the highest level of heating costs within the apartment complex. However, it was reported that in this case, the average amount was applied.
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