FAS will strengthen control over the calculation of tariffs for consumers

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) tightens supervision in the field of tariff regulation. To do this, the department intends to share with its territorial bodies the powers to control the economic feasibility of tariffs. This will increase the coverage of inspections, while making decisions on their results remains with the center. The inclusion of field service units in this activity will increase the presence of the central office in the regions and may reduce the scale of unfair practices of tariff regulators, who report directly to the governors. Experts note that since the territorial authorities know the local situation better, this step will significantly reduce the tariff burden, the level of which directly affects the investment activity of the business.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service published on regulation.gov.ru a draft government decree that corrects the model of control over the decisions of tariff regulators and the reasonableness of tariffs, including their own territorial bodies in the number of controllers. As the FAS explained to Kommersant, only the central office of the service conducts inspections of regional tariff regulation bodies. It detects such violations as setting tariffs above or below the ceiling, as well as failure to set tariffs on time.

From March to August 2022, there was a moratorium on such inspections. As a result, at the end of it, according to the FAS, it issued a number of instructions and orders to cancel tariff decisions – for example, it was possible to exclude 3.58 billion rubles from tariffs. unreasonable amounts. In total, 36 prescriptions were issued in 2022 with a deadline for execution in 2023. As a result, when reviewing tariffs, regulators should eliminate the burden of another 9.2 billion rubles. Let us clarify that economically unjustified expenses as part of the tariff may include, for example, expenses for unfulfilled investment programs or for the maintenance of excess personnel (if their number exceeds the norms).

The FAS believes that the expansion of the powers of territorial bodies will make it possible to increase the effectiveness of control in the tariff sphere and reduce unreasonably high tariffs. At the same time, an increase in the coverage of control activities will not require an increase in staff. Decision-making – the issuance of a response act based on the results of the audit, as well as subsequent monitoring of its implementation – remains the responsibility of the FAS central office. The service explains this by the need to maintain the uniformity of supervision practices, as well as additional internal procedural control.

The granting of control powers to the territorial authorities in the field of tariffs in fact means deepening the FAS into regional specifics. From the head of the FAS Maxim Shaskolsky, upon his appointment, they expected to restore order precisely in the field of tariff regulation (see Kommersant dated November 12, 2020). In his former position as vice governor of St. Petersburg, he was known for successful tariff negotiations with state monopolies, which are always necessary to find a balance between the growth of the economy as a whole and the interest of state monopolies in a sufficient level of tariff profit for investment in infrastructure. However, due to the pandemic and the military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the FAS had to deal with “churn” and regulate prices for socially significant goods, and the introduction of a unified tariff legislation ran into resistance from departments and the market. However, the FAS said that the relevant bill has already been supported by industry departments, progress has been made in terms of its coordination with the business community. Thus, before the re-submission of the draft to the government, only one important stage remained – its consideration by the subcommittee of the government commission on administrative reform. So, de facto, the FAS, without wasting time waiting for a unified regulation, began to restore order in the area of ​​control over the reasonableness of tariffs accessible to it.

Experts assessed the initiative positively. At the same time, Ilya Dolmatov, director of the Institute for Economics and Regulation of Infrastructure Industries at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, warns of the difficulties of its implementation at the first stage. “This is the need for a more detailed immersion of the FAS departments into the problems of tariff regulation, strengthening competencies,” he says. According to Tatyana Basova, head of economic research at Kulik&Partners Law.Economics, FAS territorial bodies already exercise control over pricing (as part of a collegial body that makes tariff decisions in the regions), and the service itself paid a lot of attention to mentoring programs. “With properly built interaction and advisory support from the FAS, improving the centralized hierarchical model for monitoring tariff decisions with the inclusion of additional powers of the regions will further reduce the tariff burden on energy consumers in the social and industrial spheres,” the expert believes.

Elena Satina, a lawyer at the BGP Litigation competition law practice, suggests that the Federal Antimonopoly Service will send an order to the territorial agency to conduct an audit in relation to the tariff set by the region, that is, the tasks of the territorial agencies will include collecting materials and a preliminary assessment of the reasonableness of tariffs, and the service will be able to make decisions based on them. “The measure will increase the effectiveness of ongoing inspections, taking into account the growth in their number – as a rule, the check of the antimonopoly body for the reasonableness of the tariff is voluminous and involves a painstaking analysis of the procedure for setting it,” she adds. The most important thing, according to Ilya Dolmatov, is that it is difficult to delve deeply into regional specifics from the federal level, “local consideration of the causes leading to violations can positively affect the effectiveness of control work.”

Diana Galieva