Court nullifies key allegations against ENA in licensing dispute, defense claims

The Yerevan Administrative Court has struck down several primary justifications used by the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) in its attempt to revoke the operating license of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), defense lawyer Aram Orbelyan announced on Thursday. 

Following a series of intensive hearings, Orbelyan stated that the court found four out of seven key points in the PSRC’s decision to be unsubstantiated. Central to the defense’s victory was the court's rejection of claims regarding systemic financial irregularities and the alleged disappearance of data.

"The court recorded very clearly that there was no formal handover-acceptance process regarding ENA's purported violations," Orbelyan told reporters. He noted that during the evidence examination phase, the commission struggled to map specific evidence to the alleged infractions.

Among the dismissed charges was an allegation that ENA had overseen the "overnight disappearance" of irreversible data. Furthermore, the court addressed claims of systematic "under-registration", an accusation that the utility was overcharging consumers. While the court noted that specific numerical data might point to isolated incidents, it ruled that the evidence was insufficient to prove a coordinated or systemic practice.

Orbelyan accused the commission of "numerical manipulation," citing a discrepancy where the PSRC alleged violations across 130 subscribers, while actual checks revealed issues with only three, none of which were backed by forensic results.