The Russians decided to oblige to let strangers from housing and communal services into apartments: what are the risks

Failure to do so will result in administrative liability.

In Russia, they want to oblige residents to let representatives of management companies (UK) and resource supply organizations (RSO) into apartments to work with “smart” metering devices. Failure to do so may result in administrative liability. The Ministry of Construction has already applied to the government with the corresponding initiative. Experts believe that if the proposal receives a positive response, a surge in fraud is inevitable in the country. But this is not the only unfortunate consequence. Having let public utilities into your home, there is a risk of getting not only a new meter, but “at the same time” acts of illegal redevelopment or a fine for littering the balcony.

As reported in the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing, citizens may be required to let public utilities to install new heat and water meters. In the event of a repeated refusal to let a housing and communal services employee home to install a “smart” metering device, the tenant will be subject to administrative liability – fines, the amount of which has not yet been specified.

Note that the owner is now obliged to provide access to his home, but not at the first whim of public utilities. So, for example, every year, in preparation for the season of house operation, every citizen must let a representative of the managing organization into the apartment. If gas stoves are used in the house, the consumer must also open the door to a gas service representative to check the in-house metering devices and gas stoves, says Konstantin Krokhin, chairman of the Housing Union, member of the housing and communal services committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, before conducting an inspection, the services are required to warn the citizen in advance of their visit by sending a mail notification or a message from the dispatch service, by telephone.

Meanwhile, consumers themselves sometimes abuse their right of ownership and do not provide access to housing. True, the tenants have good reasons for this. Under the pretext of installing or checking a “smart” meter, deceivers can enter apartments, bill the owners for several thousand rubles and disappear. Or even worse – criminals who can rob or cause harm to health. Let us recall, for example, one of the first Soviet serial killers. His popular nickname among the people was “Mosgaz”, since the man entered the apartments, introducing himself as an employee of this particular service.

There is another reason why consumers are reluctant to let utility workers into their homes. Employees of management companies very often use tricks, for example, they say that you are drowning your neighbors, and as soon as the door opens, they hand a notice into the hands of a gullible tenant, such as “pay a fine for illegal redevelopment.”

And, indeed, under the guise of a plumber who needs to carry out maintenance work, anyone can enter the apartment for anything. If we oblige the population to open its doors to everyone and everyone, will arbitrariness begin?

The main problem of non-admission, firstly, is related to the fact that the apartment may have an illegal redevelopment, which residents do not want the residents to find out about, says Pavel Sklyanchuk, an expert of the Popular Front, a member of the Public Council of the federal project “School of a Literate Consumer”.

In his opinion, first of all, it is necessary to provide for the specialist to enter the apartment only to check and replace the meters, and not draw up acts of redevelopment “at the same time”.

“Secondly, there is a small percentage of owners who are offended by the housing and communal services system and boycott it. Thirdly, often people are really afraid of scammers or they do not have time to deal with domestic issues. Fourthly, there are many empty apartments in which no one lives. Today, access is provided in court, in the presence of bailiffs, or rescue services, if a fire or flood has started, the source of MK continues. – To combat marginalized groups, fines will definitely not help, but will only aggravate the situation with debts for housing and communal services. In addition, today building managers and public utilities do not always communicate politely with consumers, and even more fines will untie their hands.”

Sklyanchuk stressed that the replacement of the meter is a service, so the installation of intelligent systems, including by transferring devices to the property of public utilities, should increase comfort for residents, and not limit their constitutional right to the inviolability of their homes.