---
title: "Theft of electricity or natural gas and unmetered consumption (Art. 96¹)"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/administrative-and-public-law-en/theft-of-electricity-or-natural-gas-and-unmetered-consumption-art-961-en"
field: "Administrative & Public Law"
description: "Article 96¹: theft of electricity or natural gas and unmetered consumption — a warning first, a fine on repetition. Legal help at Legal.ge."
updated: "2026-10-14"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Theft of electricity or natural gas and unmetered consumption (Art. 96¹)

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/administrative-and-public-law-en/theft-of-electricity-or-natural-gas-and-unmetered-consumption-art-961-en

## What Article 96¹ provides

Article 96¹ of the Georgian Code of Administrative Offences has two parts and a clear logic: a first detected instance ends with a warning, while a repetition of the same conduct brings a fine whose size is set by the legal status of the person concerned. The article puts two things into one provision — the theft of electricity or natural gas, and the consumption of electricity or natural gas without metering or in breach of the metering rules. The second of those covers situations people do not usually think of as theft at all, which is why it catches households and businesses that never intended to take anything.

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### This is the first time it has been recorded — will I be fined?

Part 1 of Article 96¹ provides for a warning for a first instance, not a fine. The monetary sanction appears in Part 2, which applies to the same act committed repeatedly. That makes the first decision worth reading in full and keeping, because it is the document that determines what a second incident will cost.

### Why is a company fined 15,000 lari when a private individual is fined 100?

Because Article 96¹ sets the amount by reference to the legal form of the person and to VAT registration, not to how much energy was consumed. A natural person other than a VAT-registered individual entrepreneur is fined 100 lari; a VAT-registered individual entrepreneur, legal person or institution is fined 15,000 lari; a legal person or institution that is not VAT-registered is fined 1,000 lari.

### Does a faulty meter count as a breach of the metering rules?

Article 96¹ covers consumption without metering or in breach of the metering rules, but it does not itself define what amounts to such a breach — that comes from the rules governing metering and from the facts of the case. Documentary proof of the meter's technical condition, including calibration and repair records, is therefore among the most useful material you can produce.

### Someone else was living at the property registered in my name. Who is liable?

The article imposes liability on the person who committed the act and creates no automatic presumption based on the name on the account. The question is decided on who was actually consuming and who had access. A lease agreement, the payment history and correspondence with the tenant are often the documents that settle it.