China News Service, Beijing, October 30 (Reporter Gao Meng) Winter heating is related to the heating and cooling of thousands of households. On October 30, the Supreme People's Court released a number of typical cases of people's court service guarantees for winter heating, covering four types of high-risk dispute scenarios, including breach of contract and excessive use of heat, illegal use of private pipe network, breach of guarantee of upstream fuel supply, and long-term heating arrears.
First of all, this batch of typical cases reflects that the people's courts regulate illegal heat use in accordance with the law and maintain the order of fair utilization of heating resources as public resources for people's livelihood. In one case, the heat user added facilities and breached the contract to use heat beyond the scope. The People's Court made it clear that because the heat user breached the contract and used heat, causing the room temperature to fail to meet the standard, the payment obligation could not be reduced or exempted, and ordered the heat user to make up for the heating costs and pay liquidated damages.
According to the Supreme Court, typical cases also reflect the protection of the upstream supply chain of heat supply. The performance of upstream fuel supply contracts is directly related to the overall supply of people's livelihood. In one case, despite repeated reminders, the coal supplier still failed to timely deliver 5,000 tons of Class II bituminous coal worth more than 3.85 million yuan in accordance with the purchase contract with the heating company. The People's Court determined that it constituted a fundamental breach of contract and ruled to terminate the coal purchase contract involved in the case, and that the supplier should pay corresponding liquidated damages to compensate for the losses incurred by the heating company in purchasing additional fuel, to ensure that the heating company replenished its fuel inventory in a timely manner, and to maintain the supply chain of coal and other energy sources for warmth and supply.
In addition, typical cases also reflect the People's Court's approach to substantively resolving conflicts and disputes. In one case, a heat-using enterprise owed a general heating company for 18 years, with the amount of arrears exceeding 240,000 yuan. However, it is difficult to quickly recover the funds with a simple settlement, which may affect the guarantee of winter heating. As a result, the People's Court strengthened coordination and cooperation in trial filing and enforcement to promote the substantive resolution of disputes. By checking the vouchers of arrears for many years, pushing the demonstration and interpretation of similar cases, and cooperating with the heating authorities and the heating industry association to facilitate the coordination, the two parties reached a mediation plan for paying off debts with houses, and simultaneously followed up and executed the transfer process, and resolved the old heat disputes in one go.
The Supreme People's Court stated that in the next step, the People's Court will continue to focus on urgent and urgent issues concerning people's livelihood, such as keeping warm and supplying food in winter, and carry out high-quality judicial escort work to ensure the safety and warmth of the people through the winter. (over)
