New rules for recalculation of utility bills: main changes

Our correspondent from Omsk, Natalya Graf, asks: what should a person do if his payment bill shows an increase in tariffs since July 1 that exceeds the limit indexes? For example, in the village of Kutuzovka, Chebarkul district, heating payments increased by 9 percent.

Alexey Matyukhin: It is necessary to look at how much the overall payment for all utilities has increased. Because the restriction mechanism allows you to increase more than what is established for a particular type of resource, for example by 7 or even 10 percent. But the final total payment compared to what a citizen, for example, paid in December 2021, should not change more than what is allowed by the government. That is, if you combine heat, water, electricity, gas, you will get no more than what is provided for the Omsk region.

For clarification, it is better to contact the State Housing Supervision authorities. How correctly payments are calculated can be found out at the FAS. We will check compliance with the limit index for the constituent entity of the Russian Federation. You can try to double-check the accuracy of the calculation using the “utility payment calculator” on the FAS website.

How correctly payments for utility services are calculated can be checked using the “utility payment calculator” on the FAS website

Some regions announced that due to the pandemic they did not raise individual tariffs. When can they be raised now?

Alexey Matyukhin: Tariffs according to the law change from July 1. There can be no other date. But the region may decide to establish preferential tariffs for the population from July, which may be equal, for example, to the 2021 tariff. The tariff for companies has increased, but not for citizens. And this delta is compensated by the budget of the subject of the Federation. The region has the right to cancel this preferential treatment in a few months, and residents’ payments on receipts will increase. But the payment of citizens still should not change by a percentage greater than the government-approved index.

Svetlana Razvorotneva answers readers’ questions in the “Legal Consultation” section

Svetlana Razvorotneva: I’ll add that there are also fees for major repairs, which are set not by the federal government, but by the region. Last year, many subjects of the Federation decided to increase their income, and set the size of the “increase” themselves.

There have been proposals to freeze tariff growth for a year in Russia as a whole due to difficulties in the economy caused by the pandemic...

Alexey Matyukhin: Although the increase in fees for housing and communal services occurs on July 1, the decision on this is made in December 2019.

Infographics "RG" / Anton Perepletchikov / Olga Bukharova

Debt due to debts

Question from our correspondent from Bashkiria, Olga Goryunova: in the current conditions, will the issue of exempting large families or those without work from paying for housing and communal services or increasing the amount of subsidies be considered?

Svetlana Razvorotneva: In my opinion, releasing, reducing or freezing utility bills will not help matters. Firstly, this support is not targeted. Secondly, an artificial reduction in payments leads to the fact that enterprises do not have enough funds to provide high-quality services, carry out routine repairs, and prepare for winter. That is, as a result, the same consumers suffer.

The best tool for assistance is not benefits, but housing subsidies. Because they provide this assistance depending not on categories, but on need. For example, you can be a mother of many children, but at the same time have a very well-earning husband... Unfortunately, now not all citizens eligible for this benefit from subsidies. First of all, because of the very complex registration procedure. For example, in Udmurtia, some categories of citizens applying for a subsidy need to draw up and bring 32 documents to the MFC or social security.

Another problem is that the subsidy is provided only to those who have no debts for housing and communal services or have entered into an agreement on debt restructuring. It turns out to be a vicious circle. During the pandemic, attempts were made to break this system in a number of regions. For example, Moscow and Volgograd began to issue subsidies in the presence of debts. But the procedure for obtaining new subsidies remained complex.

How to charge utility bills if the apartment is empty

In the temporary absence of citizens, payment for certain types of utility services, calculated on the basis of consumption standards, is carried out taking into account the recalculation of payments for the period of temporary absence of citizens in the manner and in cases approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with Part 11 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, non-use of premises by owners, tenants and other persons is not grounds for non-payment of payment for residential premises and utilities. Thus, regardless of the fact of residence, tenants and owners of residential premises are required to bear the costs of using and maintaining the premises.

Rules for successful judicial collection of fees for housing and communal services for management companies and homeowners' associations
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90% of overage proposals rejected

To what extent are tariffs for the population economically justified? It is often said that we pay less than cost.

Svetlana Razvorotneva: Tariffs are different everywhere. Somewhere they are actually lower than justified, for example in Kamchatka, in the Far East. There, the population pays less, and the lost income is subsidized by regional authorities. Somewhere this happens in disguise. Our tariffs are lower than in many Western European countries, but we actually pay more. Because theft, heat loss, ineffective modernization, worn-out utility infrastructure...

There are those who, I think, live well thanks to tariffs. Now, thank God, we have put an end to the practice of companies that were given a meter of pipe as a resource supplying organization. There is a separate tariff for this pipe, and the participation of an intermediary doubles the cost of services. There were similar stories in the Far East, in the Leningrad region.

Alexey Matyukhin: Setting tariffs is the competence of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. But I would like to point out that there is not only the desire of the region or a specific company. There is a basis for pricing, methodological recommendations that must be strictly followed.

In 2021, a mechanism was introduced for approval of excesses of indices established by the government with the Federal Antimonopoly Service. In previous years, about two thousand municipalities at the local level agreed on excesses by several times, in some cases, tens of times more than the government gave to the region.

In past years, about two thousand municipalities raised tariffs several times higher than the maximum indices established by the government

We received a flood of requests from the regions, we looked at the documents and 92% of them were returned. That is, the excesses that were planned for this year from July 1 were reduced by 90 percent. They brought us documents: “We are planning, perhaps, in January to establish such and such a standard...”. Or letters from the heads of large cities: perhaps we are planning to conclude a concession agreement in July or August 2021, agree for us to increase tariffs by 35 percent. This is at least not serious.

We would like to point out that we do not agree on the percentage increase. But only the possibility and availability of documents that this can be increased. And what percentage is calculated by the regions. There was not a single refusal from the FAS for the reason that they wanted to increase tariffs too much.

Payment of utilities through the terminal

Today, payment terminals are the fastest and most convenient way to pay for goods and services. It is suitable for active people who have to visit different places in the city every day. In the absence of access to the Internet, the terminal is the most accessible method with which you can pay off almost any debt. Algorithm of actions for performing an operation:

• "Payments" item;
• selection of the required type of services;
• entering information about the location and company that maintains the house or apartment;
• the next paragraph is an indication of the amount and personal account;
• depositing cash into a bill acceptor.

The terminal is a very reliable equipment, so you should not think about risks when making a financial transaction. Each terminal issues a receipt with all the necessary information. You can find it in a branch of Sberbank, which has an excellent reputation today. When choosing an organization, you need to consider what commission will be requested for the operation.

Meters are not a panacea

After last winter, there were many questions - why, even in extremely warm weather, should residents pay for heating according to standards designed for cold winters? Can residents demand changes to standards, citing the fact that the climate has become warmer?

Alexey Matyukhin: Standards are the full competence of the government authority of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. The FAS or other federal body cannot prescribe anything. There is a government decree establishing standards. If I’m not mistaken, the standards are revised at least once every three years, or if there are any targeted changes in the company or in other matters.

Svetlana Razvorotneva: Changing standards does not always lead to the results that the population hopes for. The topic of changing heating standards was actively discussed throughout the past year. The Ministry of Construction adopted the calculation methodology. It turned out that old, dilapidated, low-rise buildings, which actually consume a lot of heat, should receive a very high standard. The adoption of such standards had to be postponed until January 2022.

The standard is always the same, no matter what the weather is like outside. He is always unfair. Metering devices are also not a panacea. Because often, for political reasons, we set standards lower than actual consumption. And when people install a meter and see that they are consuming more, this device instantly “fails.”

However, the device must be installed. And most importantly, you need equipment that will regulate the flow of heat into the house. We had many requests at the beginning of the year related to recalculations for heat. People rightly talk about a warm winter. But the management company is not working! There is a temperature graph - how much heat should be supplied if the air temperature is within such and such limits. If the management company does not monitor this and does not file complaints in a timely manner, then the suppliers “wash their hands”: “This amount of heat was due to the need to ensure standard consumption in a particular apartment.” If a person who has overheating does not draw up reports stating that his temperature in the apartment is above 24 degrees, then it is impossible to prove anything.

If payments are artificially reduced, enterprises will not have funds for repairs and preparation for winter. Photo: Alexander Korolkov

Garbage payments

There are many questions from readers about recalculations. Residents of the Moscow region regularly pay for housing and communal services, there are no debts - and suddenly next month they receive a recalculation of three thousand rubles for garbage. In Kaliningrad, the water utility sent a recalculation for two years. Can organizations present invoices for such quite significant amounts retroactively?

Svetlana Razvorotneva: Recalculations for water may be due to the fact that people do not submit meter readings on time. If this is not due to late transmission of evidence, then it is difficult for me to imagine what a legal basis for recalculation could be. Garbage is a difficult story. Service providers who have never worked in this market have entered the market. Perhaps the recalculation is due to data clarification. If in doubt, you should contact the State Housing Inspectorate.

Question from Samara: how would it be fairer to set tariffs for garbage removal based on square footage or the number of residents?

Svetlana Razvorotneva: It’s not for me to resolve this dispute. We also receive a huge number of letters from citizens with the wording that it is not meters that litter, but people. Most likely, the main reason for this approach is the ease of payment administration. It is extremely difficult to calculate the number of actual residents: one person is registered, but 10 live.

But what outrages people most is the inability to recalculate the fee if the service is not provided. If a person goes to the country for the summer, he will still receive payments for the removal of solid waste. Both we, social activists, and State Duma deputies have repeatedly raised the issue of the need to introduce a recalculation procedure. However, this has not yet been done.

Payment of utilities through your personal account

There are several options for paying for utilities using the Internet. Using one of the specialized sites, a tenant can create a personal account (PA), through which it is possible to manage all accounts. To create a personal account, you must go through the authorization procedure. Typically the following information is required for registration:

• Email;
• your own password for protection (at least six characters);
• first name, last name and patronymic of the citizen;
• apartment number for which deductions will be made;
• phone number for contacts;
• personal account of the owner or tenant.

Next, you need to enter the text characters from the captcha so that the system can identify the person. The following information will be stored in the personal account:

• history of all deductions;
• invoices issued to the owner or tenant;
• personal data;
• other important information.

Using the capabilities of the personal account, it is possible to get rid of wasting time on re-entering your personal account, bank card number and personal details. You can pay for the necessary services using cards:

• Visa (except VISA Electron);
• MasterCard;
• Maestro of Sberbank.

Special services allow you to quickly find out information about debts or overpayments. You can receive payment confirmation in any convenient way. Enrollment is always carried out within one or three working days.

Disinfection or repair

The pandemic has raised new questions. Complaint from the city of Kirzhach, Vladimir region: the management company charged residents 21 thousand rubles for disinfecting the entrances. Is there a legal basis for charging these expenses to residents?

Svetlana Razvorotneva: There are no legal grounds, because if you follow the Housing Code, all decisions regarding the cost of housing services are made by citizens.

Disinfection costs are simply not included in the minimum list of services for maintaining common property. And when the regional authorities ordered this work to be carried out, in my opinion, they should have determined the source of funding. It would be logical if such expenses came from emergency funds that the regions have. The Ministry of Construction also called for this. In May, monitoring was carried out, and it turned out that in at least 40 regions, including the Vladimir region, there was no assistance to the Criminal Code from local authorities.

Management companies were forced to solve this problem on their own. And they solved it through ongoing repairs, through work to prepare for winter. Therefore, there are fears that we will meet the heating season even less prepared.

Svetlana Razvorotneva and Alexey Matyukhin: Tariffs are different everywhere and in some places they are actually lower than economically justified. But setting tariffs is the competence of the subjects. Photo: rg.ru

Rates

There is no need for gas

It was recently announced that gas tariffs will increase by three percent from August 1. Why not from July?

Svetlana Razvorotneva: We are talking about increasing prices for wholesale consumers, which does not always occur on July 1. This will not affect consumers in any way at this time. An increase in wholesale prices is included when setting the tariff. In the Moscow region, a decision was made to postpone the increase in gas tariffs, but this was a purely social decision of the region.

In Moscow, over the past couple of years, the electricity tariff for those with electric stoves has been growing more than for those with gas stoves. This is usually explained by the desire to equalize tariffs.

Svetlana Razvorotneva: These are regional solutions. They probably have some kind of logic. For me, setting tariffs in Moscow is always a mystery. Why do they always grow faster in Moscow than throughout the country? Although tariffs in Moscow have now been raised by 3.7 percent, they, based on some considerations, made an application for 5 percent.

Alexey Matyukhin: Maximum payments are set according to a methodology approved by the government. In fact, they are approved long-term, there is a certain formula. Indicators of socio-economic development and other points are included there. The increase figure is primarily related to the socio-economic situation of the region, development, active construction, implementation of comprehensive development programs and other points.

Payment of utilities through mobile banking

Mobile banking is another convenient and affordable way to pay bills. To perform the operation you must:

• create an SMS request for the bank you are using;
• receive an SMS with a code with which you need to confirm the transaction (with the relevant details);
• send a message to the banking organization to confirm the operation.

Controlling incoming messages is a necessary measure that resolves issues of duplication of financial transactions. If the system recognizes two messages that are identical in meaning, then the subscriber will receive an error notification. To confirm the transaction, you must resend the corresponding SMS after sixty minutes. When creating an SMS, indicate:

• recipient code;
• requisites;
• enrollment period (not required to be filled out);
• the last four digits of the card number.

The subscriber learns about the successful completion of the procedure from a message sent by the system to inform the client. Using mobile banking, you can quickly find out information about debts, overpayments and other important data.