Constitutional Court opens case on termination of verification of residential water meters

RIGA - The Constitutional Court has opened a case on termination of verification of residential water meters, the court informed LETA.

The Constitutional Court will assess whether the provisions of the Cabinet of Ministers regulation on the list of measuring instruments subject to national metrological control, approved by the government on June 3, are in line with the Constitution.

The contested provisions stipulate that mechanical, electromagnetic and ultrasonic water meters are subject to metrological control, except for water meters installed in apartments in apartment buildings.

The plaintiff is a company whose main line of business is verification and replacement of water meters in apartment buildings.

The company claims that it has made investments in its business activities by relying on a legal framework that has existed for many years. The company believes that the contested provisions infringe its right to property, as well as the principle of protection of legitimate expectations, since the Cabinet of Ministers has not agreed on a sufficient transitional period to the new legal framework or provided compensation to the companies affected.

Furthermore, the Cabinet of Ministers has not properly assessed the necessity of the contested provisions, nor has it listened to the opinions of the industry, said the company.

The Constitutional Court has instructed the government to submit a reply by February 2026, setting out the facts of the case and the legal reasons for amending the regulation.

As reported, the government on June 3 approved the abolition of the requirement to verify water meters.

Under amendments to the May 14, 2024 government regulation on the list of measurement devices subject to national metrological control, drafted by the Economics Ministry, apartment owners will no longer be required to repeatedly verify their water meters. People will be able to use their existing devices measuring their water consumption without the obligation to verify their accuracy on a regular basis.

The Economics Ministry argued earlier that the process of repeated verification of water consumption meters installed in apartments is not useful - removing this obligation would reduce the administrative burden and costs for residents.

The existing regulation obliged apartment owners to verify mechanical water meters every four years, and electromagnetic and ultrasonic water meters every six years. Between 2020 and 2023, a total of 975,809 water meters were verified in apartments, which cost the apartment owners EUR 19.5 million, or around EUR 5 million per year.