The Russians were afraid of a new increase in utility bills from March 1

From March 1, the Russians may once again rise payments for a communal apartment. While we have not fully come to our senses after the December increase in tariffs by 9%, amendments to the government decree on the recalculation of funds for the maintenance of common house property have already arrived, which will please us this spring. In general, we again rummage through our pockets and barrels.

The Government of the Russian Federation has prepared amendments to its Decree No. 354 “On the provision of utilities to owners …”. They concern changes in the procedure for payment by tenants of common house needs. The profile committee of the State Duma confirmed the fact that the government amendments were being considered. Public organizations in the field of housing and communal services are sounding the alarm: a new payment item for residents may appear as early as March 1.

For some reason, it seemed that after the December increase in tariffs, our communal apartment would calm down. After all, it was unscheduled, since July 1 last year, we have already increased payment for housing and communal services. Yes, and the government swore that now for a whole year and a half about tariffs for water, heat and light can be forgotten as a nightmare.

But it was not there. Reforms continue. Their goal is to “bring the calculated values ​​of utility consumption closer to the level of their actual consumption.” And divide the line “maintenance and repair” into two components: repair – separately and maintenance – separately.

As experts explain, apartment buildings in Russia are very different from each other. There are Soviet buildings, a considerable housing stock is occupied even by pre-revolutionary houses. Where, for technical reasons, it is simply impossible to install resource metering devices.

In this situation, when calculating payments to owners, utilities proceeded from consumption standards, which are calculated on average values ​​for 12 months a year. Now the task is different: to bring the costs of ODN (general house needs) as close as possible to their actual consumption – even in the absence of metering devices.

Experienced public utilities, who have devoted many years to their profession, honestly admit that they still have no idea how this can be done in practice.

But, as they say, the attempt is not torture. Now tenants will have to pay for the round-the-clock light bulbs burning in the entrance, for the water with which the cleaners wash the flights of stairs, and for many other things. There was even an additional option: a previously non-existing tariff for paying the standard for water heating.

In general, no one said that it would be easy.

Nevertheless, the authorities, as best they could, sweetened the pill for us, trying to demonstrate that a communal apartment can not only rise in price, but also become cheaper. So, if the owner was absent from the apartment for more than 5 days, he has every right to pay less for garbage collection. To do this, he needs to come to the management company, write an application and attach documents to it confirming that he did not live in the house (and, accordingly, did not litter) for more than 5 days.

Unfortunately, vacation in the country (after all, many citizens leave the city for the whole summer) is not such a good reason. All that can prove your non-involvement in the garbage is a voucher to a holiday home (with air or railway tickets attached) or a travel certificate. “Overboard” are also those who have many apartments, but live (and litter) in only one of them

We asked Pavel Sklyanchuk, an expert of the Popular Front on communal issues, to explain the upcoming continuation of the housing and communal services reform.

– For which positions will the payment be recalculated?

– The biggest expense item is heat. Our houses have low energy efficiency and allow significant heat losses. Here are the most significant changes. The second option is electricity costs. This is an elevator economy, lighting in basements and attics. The third is water supply. It is connected not only with water consumption, but also for pressure testing of the network in preparation for winter …

– Sorry, but for these very services we raised tariffs in December – for heat, and for light, and for water! Now again?

– In December, there was a calculation related to the individual consumption of resources in apartments. Now the changes will affect the general needs of the house, which, as it were, do not depend on the person individually. Let’s say the water consumption for watering a flower bed near the house adjoining territory. Today, such expenses are borne by management companies, they pay for them from their own funds, as a result of which they incur losses.

– And how much will the payment of communal apartments for citizens increase?

– Unfortunately, there are no objective and predictive data in the housing and communal services, according to which it would be possible to assume how these changes can hit the wallet of the consumer of services. By law, the owner bears the entire burden of maintaining the property. If management companies exceed their powers and “hang” their losses on the tenants, their decisions can and should be challenged.

– When exactly will we receive new payments? From March 1st?

– So far, the authorities have not officially announced the date. Various public associations speak about it. From March 1, changes in the government decree come into force. Then, based on the results of the changes, there will be a recalculation in houses that did not previously take into account consumption volumes. The Ministry of Construction is trying to solve the problem of unaccounted for utility resources that go to the needs of the whole house and for which no one pays.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28971 dated February 14, 2023

Newspaper headline:
The house is red with payment