Irkutsk energy officials are uncovering instances of cryptocurrency mining in residential buildings for court action and penalty collection. This was stated by Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Snikkars in an interview with «Известиям».
According to him, miners are identified by the volume of electricity consumption and changes in the load on the grid.
“When there is a suspicion that the resident is using electricity not for domestic purposes, an inspector is sent to the apartment to check the power installations. After that, the owner of the mining equipment is either issued a new bill at the business electricity rate, or legal action is taken,” Snikkars noted.
Lawyers say that there are at least 10 known cases of successful collection from miners of the difference between residential and business electricity tariffs, they said.
They added that the court typically sides with energy companies, and there is no favorable precedent for challenging such suits yet.
Previously, ForkLog reported that in 2021 the energy consumption of the population of Irkutsk Oblast grew fourfold due to miners.
In mid-November the Russian State Duma registered a bill regulating mining and the subsequent sale of mined cryptocurrencies. The document obliges individuals and legal entities to report to the tax authorities about mined cryptocurrencies, specifying the address to which the mined cryptocurrencies are credited.
Experts say that adoption of regulation in its current form will lead to the creation in the country of a black market of exchangers and the outflow of mined assets abroad.
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