A new portal, Tiesiskums.lv, created by highly qualified lawyers, has been launched in Latvia, enabling any resident or company to register for the recovery of unlawfully collected mandatory electricity surcharge payments, known as the Obligatory Procurement Component (OIK).
In addition, regional forums will be held across Latvia, where residents will have the opportunity to apply in person for OIK reimbursement and sign a cooperation agreement with the Tiesiskums.lv association. According to the organization, the average household could recover around 2 000 euros.
Several well-known Latvian attorneys have already committed to assisting residents in recovering unlawfully charged OIK payments in cooperation with the association. These include sworn attorneys and legal professionals such as Saulvedis Vārpiņš (Chairman of the Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates), Olafs Cers, Artis Stucka, Evita Ostrovska, Iveta Pazare, Guna Kaminska, Mareks Šīrants, Zanda Kokare-Rode, Pēteris Treijs, and Elīna Zeltiņa.
The registration form on Tiesiskums.lv follows the collective claim model, widely used in international legal practice in cases where large segments of society have been affected. The financial loss for each individual or business varies depending on specific electricity bills. After registering on the platform and electronically signing the agreement, the association will be able to request detailed data from electricity providers to calculate the compensation amount owed to each signatory. The agreement signing period is open until the 1st of October.
Agreements can also be signed in paper format at regional forums organized by the association throughout Latvia.
For those without access to digital signature tools, registration on the Tiesiskums.lv website is still required, so that the association’s partner lawyers can plan in-person contract signings across Latvian regions and cities. Residents will be informed about dates and locations via the portal and the association’s social media platforms.
The association explains that the OIK scheme forced all electricity consumers in Latvia to pay prices higher than market rates. In some months, the OIK surcharge accounted for up to 35% of the total electricity bill. According to Vārpiņš, to this day, not a single individual has recovered any of the unlawfully paid OIK charges. “But if we want to improve our country, we must take responsibility for our decisions – and demand the same from those who refuse to be held accountable,” he said.
Sworn attorney and doctor of law Artis Stucka argues that the OIK scheme was contrary to the public interest and to the principles of a democratic rule-of-law state from the very beginning. He believes every Latvian resident who was forced to make these unlawful payments for years has the right to appropriate compensation.
Sworn attorney Olafs Cers also emphasized that those responsible must be held accountable. “We were all forced to chip in for OIK payments, which were then split as profit among a few ‘chosen’ businesses. This is not an acceptable form of equality at the state level,” he stressed, adding that the injustice caused to OIK payers must be corrected.