New payments for housing and communal services caused indignation of Russians: the expert explained the nuances

Tenants began to receive indexed utility bills

Living in Russia is becoming more and more expensive. Residents of a number of regions of Russia found very large amounts in the single payment document (EPD) for January 2023. For some families, the fee has increased by almost 700 rubles in just a month. Meanwhile, the authorities said that the unscheduled indexation of housing and communal services tariffs in December would increase the average monthly payment per family by 324 rubles. And across the country, the marginal level of price increase will not exceed 9%. In fact, as we can see, payments have grown much stronger. Why, understood “MK”.

Last December, Irina S. paid 6,490 rubles for an apartment. In January 2023, she received an invoice for 7,113 rubles. It turns out that accommodation in just 30 days has risen in price by 9.6% or 623 rubles. This is only the amount indicated in the ENP, and there is still a separate electricity bill – about 1,000 rubles, for a telephone / Internet – about 1,200 rubles.

The expert explained why the tariffs have increased.

Chairman of the Housing Union, member of the Housing and Communal Services Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, lawyer Konstantin Krokhin:

“2022 was marked by very serious changes in the rules of the game in the housing sector. We are talking about a repeated increase in the tariff for the year, about tightening the rules for holding meetings when changing the management company. There are many negative moments and all of them affected the payment status of citizens. The total payment for housing and communal services has seriously increased.

If we talk about the centralized increase in tariffs from December 1, 2022, then last year the expert community expressed doubts that these increases were justified (namely, for utilities). The economic situation is such that a lot of oil and gas remains on the domestic market today. Meanwhile, this did not have a positive effect on the housing and communal services sector. Fares continue to rise.

In fact, we are in a series of tariff increases. From December 1, the cost of utilities was indexed, and from January 1, tariffs for the maintenance and current repairs of the house increased. Initially, it was obvious that the state was thus trying to compensate for budget losses at the expense of the population. And housing and communal payments are a serious expense in the budget of the households themselves. In some regions, tariffs have increased more seriously than by 9%. I note that the limit of 9% is average. The final increase depends on the type of service. Meanwhile, the authorities promised that the growth would average 324 rubles. Ultimately, looking at our receipts, we see an increase in the monthly payment, in some cases by 700 rubles, but there are more egregious cases. Unfortunately, the established 9% is just a guideline. If we take electricity, in many cases the increase was from 12 to 20%.”