PP 354 as amended. On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings

The rules for the provision of utilities are strictly regulated by the state legislation of the Russian Federation. The list of instructions governing the process includes both federal law and local legal acts and official regulations. A citizen who has legal information can defend his legal rights as a consumer in every instance. One of the main rules will be compliance by the tenant with his direct obligations in the field of housing and communal services (housing and communal services). In other words, there should be no complaints about him.

Payment for utilities makes up a significant part of the funds of an ordinary citizen, and this does not depend on whether he is the owner of real estate or uses it as a tenant. The rules for the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises are the same. However, it is possible and necessary to reduce the amount in the receipt for payment of utilities, if it requires it. All the rules for the provision of public services to citizens will be discussed below.

The list of utilities is determined directly by state legislation, or rather, by the Government of the Russian Federation, the definition of which is valid throughout Russia. Among other things, this list of services must be provided by the contractor for the entire calendar year. The only exception is heating. Heating utilities are provided seasonally.

However, the legislation also defines the time intervals for carrying out repair work, and also takes into account unforeseen emergencies. In these cases, time limits are provided for the repair and elimination of the accident.

When public utilities provide services of poor quality during the year, that is, the number of outages exceeds the value stipulated by law, then residents have the legal right to make a formal claim or complaint against unscrupulous "utilities". This is stated by the law on the protection of the rights of consumers of housing and communal services.

The complex of rendering utilities directly depends on the comfort and provision of certain engineering networks of a particular residential building.

In the event that the house does not have some utilities, then no fee will be charged for them. Consequently, the cost of its maintenance will be lower due to the absence of a corresponding deduction clause.

PP number 354 on the provision of utilities, adopted in 2011, is the main legislative act that regulates all activities of the housing and utilities sector. This document is often edited, and, therefore, the latest rules for the provision of public services, that is, their latest edition, will be relevant.

This decree is publicly available, and therefore, every interested citizen can study it and monitor compliance with the rules for the provision of utilities and the actions of cash settlement centers in the field of calculating payment for services.

In the latest edition of the decree of the government of the Russian Federation, the description of non-residential premises has been clarified. To specify the status of the premises and the payment of the corresponding category, you need to refer to the new version of the legislation. All disputes between homeowners and housing enterprises regarding maintenance and payment for non-residential premises can be resolved in court.

In accordance with Art. Articles 80 and 81 of the Government decree now the utility company is obliged to check the installed metering devices. That is, after the consumer's statement, the utility service must take the meter readings and check its serviceability within ten days. Previously, the legislation provided for checking the meters once every 6 months. Now this period of time has been reduced to a quarter, that is, once every 3 months.

When employees of utilities for any reason do not have access to private metering devices, then the payment will be calculated based on the number of registered residents in this particular room.

According to Chapter 9 of the aforementioned federal law, due to the incorrect calculation of utility bills, which entailed an overpayment for the services provided, a fine of up to 50% of the amount of the incorrect calculation is provided.

The rules according to which utility bills should be paid are described in Chapter 6 of the Federal Law. Each homeowner must pay in full for the utilities provided to him. However, in addition to the obligation, each citizen is also entitled to check the validity of charges. The quality of the services provided and their compliance with the norms are also taken into account. If the management company overestimates the tariffs and poorly fulfills its obligations, the tenants have the right to change it to another by terminating and renewing the contract.

• service directly at the house itself;
• overhaul of the building;
• keeping the yard area clean;
• maintenance of elevators;
• keeping public premises, stairs and elevators clean;
• garbage disposal and maintenance of general communications.

All the figures included in the "zhivka" are calculated by the specialists of the service office on a monthly basis. There are many points in the rent, according to which they must be justified and correspond to the tariff units valid on the current date.

• private;
• common buildings.

If the tenant has some benefits for utility bills, then the category of benefit and the reasons for reducing the rate must be indicated.

Clause 54 of the new Rules prescribes the calculation of fees for heating and hot water supply services, if the contractor independently wishes to make the calculation.

When drawing up a contract for the provision of utilities, all conditions, obligations and responsibilities of the parties should be taken into account. In case of omission of any condition, the conflict situation will be resolved on the basis of legislative norms and rules. The main document for drawing up a contract for the supply of services is paragraph 124 of the Rules.

• declare in writing about the desire to conclude contractual obligations for the provision of services and attach the entire mandatory package of documents;
• obtain a preliminary draft of the contract from the service provider and correct disagreements on points, if any;
• issue an additional agreement on the absence of claims and the elimination of disagreements;
• sign a contract for the provision of services.

As for the contract itself, then it must necessarily indicate the tariffs for the services provided. In addition, it provides for the responsibility of both the party providing the service for its poor-quality provision, and the consumer for violation of the terms of this agreement.

There are situations when the contract is drawn up retroactively. The legislation provides that the party providing the service can transfer the draft contract to the consumer within 20 days from the moment the provision of these very services begins.

The consumer has 30 days to adjust the terms or agree to them. At the end of the period of time allotted by law, the contract will be considered automatically concluded.

To complete the described contract, the service provider should submit the following package of mandatory documents:

In case of inaccuracies in the submitted documentation or the provision of an incomplete package of papers, the service provider must notify the consumer of this fact no later than 5 working days

In addition to the terms of the concluded contract, the parties must strictly observe the rules prescribed in chapters 4 and 5 of Federal Law No. 354 and governing relations between the parties.

The housing company has the right to choose a direct service provider independently, as well as to conclude a contractual relationship with him. In the case of planning repairs, accidents and other leading to a disruption in the supply of services, the company must notify the tenants by means of an announcement in specially designated places. Legislation supports property owners and tenants in combating unscrupulous service providers in ways such as consumer protection.

In the event of the provision of services of unsatisfactory quality, the user has the right to record his claims in the book of complaints and suggestions. The latter, in turn, must necessarily be available from every service provider.

In response to a complaint received, not only should appropriate measures be taken by the company's managers, but also a written response about this should be issued within an interval of three working days. This is stated in Art. 31 of the current legislation.

Basic rights and obligations of the consumer, Articles 33, 34:

According to article 35, the tenant has no legal right to perform actions prohibited to him, for this the state provides for heavy fines.

According to article 309 of the Civil Code of Russia, all obligations must be performed properly in accordance with the contractual terms and the current legislation. The parties do not have the right to individually change the terms of the agreement, as well as not to fulfill their obligations.

For a one-time non-payment of the amount, according to Resolution 354, amended from January 1, 2017, as amended, the legislation does not provide for any liability.

Previously, failure to pay in due time threatened to accrue fines and penalties. To date, this punishment is provided if a citizen is late with payment for more than 30 days.

The reason for making the appropriate changes was the crisis situation in the country, which entailed a delay in the payment of wages to citizens.

However, in parallel, the sanctions were tightened against those citizens who deliberately do not pay for utilities.

Until the beginning of 2017, the interest rate was equal to 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

• 1/300 for a period of non-payment of 31-90 days;
• 1/130 for non-payment of 91 days or more.

However, the government does not stop at the size of the penalties for hard-core defaulters, since conscientious tenants suffer through their fault. In the future, the amount of the penalty is planned to be increased.

The home user should know the following about the procedure for providing utilities.

The main responsibility for non-payment of utility bills is borne directly by the owner of the apartment, in contrast to users of municipal housing.

Utility rules are for the home owner to pay the receipts on time.

1. Warn in writing and offer to pay the debt without imposing penalties.
2. Visit the defaulter and verbally explain the impending consequences and penalties.
3. Suspend the provision of services.
4. Start a lawsuit to collect outstanding payments.

The latter method is the most inconvenient and costly for both parties, therefore, whenever possible, utilities are trying to resolve the issue peacefully.

As for the debt itself, during the process, due to the accrual of penalties on it, this amount can increase significantly.

If the court decides in favor of the utilities, they will be obliged to pay off the amount of the debt in full.

The rules for the provision of utilities have undergone both quantitative and qualitative changes. In general, two facts can be noted: a slight increase in tariffs and a sharp increase in consumer responsibility for paying for utilities. I would like to hope that clearer wording of the Resolution regarding recalculations in case of deterioration in the quality of services will make the work of public utilities more efficient.

Utilities by Ordinance

The rules for the provision of the list of services for the provision of water, electricity and gas supply are reflected in the Government Decree under number 354. This document was adopted in 2011, and the last edition was in 2017. With the help of a legal act, relations between owners of houses, apartments, other residential premises and performers are regulated.

The executors in this case are enterprises and organizations that provide utilities to the consumer. Consumers are home owners, citizens who own apartments in apartment buildings. With the help of the contract, they establish the basic principles of the relationship under different conditions.

The main provisions of the Resolution are as follows:

• the rights and obligations of each homeowner and contractor;
• a mechanism for monitoring the quality of services provided;
• a method for determining the payment for utilities both when using metering devices and in their absence;
• the principle of recalculation of payments for different types of utilities in the absence of citizens in the premises;
• methods of recalculation in the event that the service is not provided in full or of inadequate quality, or with interruptions;
• regulate the onset of responsibility for both parties.

In this case, concepts such as "performer", "in-house metering device", "utilities" are used. I would like to dwell on the latter in more detail.

Utilities are defined as “living space-friendly”. This does not mean that they will be delivered to all consumers. There are houses that are not connected to gas, water or sewage systems.

But the services provided must be of the same quality, which comply with SanPiN (sanitary rules and norms). Citizens pay for the quality of the resource provided, as well as for its compliance with the standards. For example, the temperature of hot water at the tap must be certain.

Let's list the utilities:

• hot water;
• the water is cold;
• electricity;
• thermal energy;
• hot water in systems;
• bottled gas;
• solid fuel in cases of its use in an apartment building.

Utilities are provided to citizens from the moment they take over ownership or from the date of signing a lease or lease.

The list of utilities corresponds to the degree of home improvement, but regardless of their number, it is served around the clock or during certain periods. The quality of the services provided must be appropriate.

Contract

An agreement is concluded between the contractor and the consumer, which contains the following provisions:

• date and place;
• the address and details of the contractor;
• from the consumer: full name, date of birth, passport data, telephone;
• the address of the premises at which utilities are provided, the number of persons registered there;
• name of utilities;
• requirements for their quality;
• method for determining the standard with metering devices and without them;
• information on the availability of metering devices, the date and place of their installation, the timing of inspections, the procedure for receiving meter readings;
• the amount of payment for utilities;
• method of sending a document on payment of utility bills;
• the procedure for reducing the fee in the event of a discrepancy between the quality or volume of the service provided, declared in the contract or approved by the SanPiN;
• the rights of the contractor in terms of the quality and quantity of services and his obligations;
• grounds for suspending utilities, as well as the validity of the contract;
• terms of the contract.

Failure to pay utility bills, collection of debts in court, as well as temporary suspension of the supply of basic resources cannot be grounds for terminating the contract.

It can be terminated only on the grounds provided for by the Civil and Housing Codes.

Changes to the Regulation in 2017

The document has changed during the last revision, both in substance and in scope. In terms of the amount of text, the act has almost doubled. This happened because new concepts appeared, such as "common house needs" and so on. Now it is possible to directly pay the fee to the resource supplying organization, if there is a decision of the general meeting of the apartment building.

It is very important: the terms of non-payment for the "communal" have been significantly reduced. Another innovation: the right to install metering devices is finally fixed by law. With regard to general house needs, it became possible to revise the water disposal coefficients. Fixed heating tariffs for residential premises.

The new edition systematizes the recalculations for electricity and other resources in the event that the service is temporarily terminated. The heating service cannot be classified as such. In case of arrears in payments, the organization can suspend the supply of any services to the homeowner, except for heating.

By reducing the terms of the debt and regulating the rules for payments on it, the contractor has more leverage in order to collect the debt as early as possible. When the supply of the resource is resumed and the seals are removed from the metering devices, all these works are carried out at the expense of the debtor.

From the beginning of 2017, the number of ONEs will be calculated using not a general house meter, but according to the standard. This means that the amount charged for an apartment building should not be higher than the standard that was calculated for this particular building. Since all resources consumed in excess of this rate fall on the shoulders of public utilities. And those, in turn, must ensure that neither the owners nor the legal entities leasing the premises steal resources.

In the event that the consumer of the service, that is, the owner of the residential premises, does not receive the service in full, then he has the right to demand recalculation. This can apply to both qualitative and quantitative indicators. There are certain standards that must be followed by housing and communal services. Such conditions must be stipulated in the contract.

Gas service checks

Fines threaten those owners of residential premises who do not allow gas crews to check. This increased attention to gas workers has arisen due to a series of explosions in residential buildings. All these sad events happened due to untimely troubleshooting. After that, everyone who acts irresponsibly in this situation faces a fine.

One of the main reasons for explosions and problems of gas workers is named - it is the impossibility of entering the territory of a residential building to check the health of gas equipment.

The penalty for not being admitted for the first time will be from 1000 to 2000 rubles. The culprit will pay a fine for the failure of gas equipment in the amount of 10,000 - 30,000 rubles. And in case of refusal to conclude a contract with gas workers, the consumer will pay from 1000 to 2000 rubles.

The other party can also pay in ruble for negligence. In the absence of checks or recommendations for replacing gas equipment in case of identified breakdowns, the gas services face a fine. Officials will pay from 5,000 to 20,000 rubles, an organization - from 40 to 100 thousand rubles.

In the video about the rules for the provision of utilities

The rules for the provision of utilities and calculation methods have changed significantly with the adoption of the latest version of the Government Decree. They have become clearer and more transparent. Both parties can make legal claims based on a specific document.

SUPREME COURT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

DEFINITION

The Board of Appeals of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation consisting of:

chairman Fedin A.I.,

board members G.V. Manokhina, I.V. Krupnova,

under secretary D.,

with the participation of the prosecutor Masalova L.F.

examined in open court a civil case at the request of S. on the recognition of paragraphs 2, 7, 21, 40, 150, subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34, subparagraphs "c", "e", "f" of paragraph 35, paragraph 44 , 54, 88 of the Rules for the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 N 354, and paragraphs 10, 15 and 16 of Appendix N 2 to these Rules,

on S.'s appeal against the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 3, 2012, which rejected the application.

Having heard the report of the judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation G.V. Manokhina, the explanations of the representative of the Government of the Russian Federation R., who objected to the arguments of the appeal, the conclusion of the prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation L.F. Masalova, who considered the appeal unfounded, the Board of Appeals of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

established:

in accordance with Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, by the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 N 354, the Rules for the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) were approved.

According to the ninth paragraph of clause 2 of the Rules, utilities are the implementation of the contractor's activities to provide consumers with any communal resource separately or 2 or more of them in any combination in order to ensure favorable and safe conditions for the use of residential, non-residential premises, common property in an apartment building, and also land plots and residential buildings (households) located on them.

In accordance with paragraph fifteen of clause 2 of the Rules, a consumer is a person who uses, on the basis of ownership or other legal basis, premises in an apartment building, residential building, household, consuming public services.

Clause 7 of the Rules stipulates that an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities, concluded through the performance of implicit actions by the consumer, shall be considered concluded on the conditions provided for by the said Rules (paragraph one).

An agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities, concluded in writing, must comply with the provisions of the named Rules and may contain the specifics of the execution of such an agreement in the cases and within the limits provided for by these Rules. In the event of a discrepancy between a written contract containing provisions on the provision of utilities, the provisions of these Rules, it is considered concluded on the conditions provided for by the Rules (paragraph two)

Clause 21 of the Rules establishes that unless otherwise specified in the contract concluded with the resource supplying organization, then such a resource supplying organization is responsible for the quality of the provision of a utility service of the corresponding type at the interface between in-house engineering systems and centralized engineering networks. Sub-clause "c" of clause 34 of the Rules introduces the consumer's obligation, if there is an individual, general (apartment) or room metering device, to take monthly readings from the 23rd to the 25th day of the current month and transfer the received readings to the performer or his authorized person no later than On the 26th day of the current month, except for cases when, in accordance with these Rules, an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities, and (or) decisions of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, actions to take readings of such metering devices must be performed by the contractor (authorized person) or other organization.

Clause 35 of the Rules establishes that the consumer is not entitled to: arbitrarily dismantle or turn off the heating elements provided for by the design and (or) technical documentation for an apartment or residential building, unauthorizedly increase the heating surfaces of heating devices installed in a residential building, in excess of the parameters provided for by the design and ( or) technical documentation for an apartment or residential building (subparagraph "c"); regulate the indoor equipment used for the consumption of communal heating services, and take other actions, as a result of which the air temperature in the apartment building will be kept below 12 degrees Celsius (subparagraph "e"); unauthorized connection of the consumer's equipment to in-house engineering systems or to centralized networks of engineering and technical support directly or bypassing metering devices, to make changes to in-house engineering systems (subparagraph "e").

Clause 40 of the Rules provides that the consumer of utilities in an apartment building, regardless of the chosen method of managing an apartment building, as part of the payment for utilities, separately pays for utilities provided to the consumer in a residential or non-residential premises, and a fee for utilities consumed in the process of using common property in an apartment building (hereinafter - utilities provided for general house needs) (paragraph one); the consumer of the utility service for heating and (or) hot water supply, produced and provided by the contractor to the consumer in the absence of centralized heating and (or) hot water supply, pays a total payment for such a utility service, calculated in accordance with paragraph 54 of the Rules and including as a utility fee provided to the consumer in a residential or non-residential premises, as well as payment for utilities provided for general household needs (paragraph two).

Clause 44 determines that the amount of payment for a utility service provided for general household needs in an apartment building equipped with a collective (general) metering device is determined in accordance with formula 10 of Appendix No. 2 to the Rules.

The volume of utility services provided for the billing period for general house needs is calculated and distributed among consumers in proportion to the size of the total area of \u200b\u200bthe residential or non-residential premises belonging to each consumer (being in his use) in an apartment building in accordance with formulas 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Appendix N 2 to the Rules.

Clause 54 of the Rules regulates relations associated with the independent production of communal services for heating and (or) hot water supply (in the absence of centralized heating and (or) hot water supply) using equipment that is part of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building, determines the procedure for implementing calculating the amount of payment for consumers for such a utility service, the volume of utilities used in the production of a utility resource in the presence of a metering device and in its absence, provides for the determination of the size of the consumer's payment for a utility service for heating (in the absence of centralized heat supply); establishes that the payment for the utility service for heating and (or) hot water supply, made by the contractor using equipment that is part of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building, does not include the cost of maintaining and repairing such equipment, the cost of maintaining and repairing such equipment must be included in the payment for the maintenance and repair of common property in an apartment building.

According to clause 88 of the Rules, the amount of payment for utilities for general house needs is not subject to recalculation due to the temporary absence of the consumer in the residential premises.

Clause 150 of the Rules provides for the consumer's right to demand from the contractor the payment of forfeits (fines, penalties) in the amount specified in the Law of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1992 N 2300-1 "On Protection of Consumer Rights", in the cases specified in clause 157 of the Rules.

Clause 10 of Appendix No. 2 to the Rules contains formula 10 and its components, which make it possible to determine the amount of payment for utility services provided for general needs in an apartment building, for the 1st dwelling (apartment) or non-residential premises in accordance with clauses 44 - 48 of the Rules. The formula is the product of the volume (quantity) of the communal resource provided for the billing period for general house needs in an apartment building and attributable to the 1st residential premises (apartment) or non-residential premises and the tariff for the corresponding communal resource established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Paragraph 15 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules provides formula 13 to determine the volume (amount) of thermal energy for the 1st residential premises (apartment) or non-residential premises provided during the billing period for general needs in an apartment building equipped with a collective (general) metering device for thermal energy, if in such an apartment building part or all of the residential and non-residential premises are equipped with individual and (or) general (apartment) heat metering devices.

Clause 16 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules introduces formula 14 for calculating the volume (amount) of thermal energy attributable to the 1st dwelling (apartment) or non-dwelling space provided for the billing period for general household needs in an apartment building equipped with a collective (common) appliance heat energy metering, if in such an apartment building in all residential and non-residential premises there are no individual and general (apartment) heat metering devices.

S. appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a statement to invalidate paragraphs 2, 7, 21, 40, 150, subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34, subparagraphs "c", "e", "f" of paragraph 35, paragraphs 44, 54 , 88 of the Rules and paragraphs 10, 15 and 16 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules, in the part prescribing to pay for utilities provided for general household needs, which he does not order and does not consume. In support of the stated requirements, he indicated that paragraphs 2, 40, 44, 54, 88 of the Rules and paragraphs 10, 15 and 16 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules contradict Articles 421, 779, 781 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Articles 154, 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. The requirement of paragraph 7 of the Rules for the compliance of an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities with the conditions provided for by these Rules violates the principle of freedom of contract, enshrined in Article 421 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Clause 21 of the Rules illegally establishes the responsibility of the resource supplying organization for the quality of the provision of a utility service of the corresponding type at the border of the section of in-house engineering systems and centralized networks of engineering and technical support; subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 introduces an additional obligation to take readings of metering devices, in comparison with consumers who do not have metering devices, which worsens his (S.) situation. The provisions of subparagraphs "c", "e", "f" of paragraph 35 of the Rules restrict the owner's rights provided for in Article 209 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation to use property in relation to apartment equipment, and paragraph 150 of the Rules restricts the application of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights" by reference to the cases provided for in paragraph 157 of these Rules.

By a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on December 3, 2012, the application was rejected.

In the appeal, S. asks for the cancellation of the court decision, citing its illegality and unfoundedness, and for a new decision. Believes that the court of first instance did not apply the substantive rules applicable to the resolution of this case, the court's conclusions on the legality of the contested provisions Of the Rules do not correspond to the factual circumstances of the case and the current federal legislation.

S. did not appear at the hearing of the Board of Appeals; he was notified of the time and place of the trial in the manner prescribed by law.

The Appeals Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, having checked the case materials, having discussed the arguments of the appeal, finds the court's decision to be canceled in terms of the refusal to invalidate subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 of the Rules. The rest of the decision shall be left unchanged.

In accordance with part 1 of article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of payment for utilities is calculated based on the volume of utilities consumed, determined by the readings of metering devices, and in their absence, based on the standards for the consumption of utilities, approved by the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation. The rules for the provision, suspension and restriction of the provision of utilities to the owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, as well as the rules that are binding upon the conclusion of the management organization or a partnership of homeowners or a housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative of contracts with resource supplying organizations, are established by the Government of the Russian Federation ...

In pursuance of the above norm of the Code, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the Rules governing relations for the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings, owners and users of residential buildings, including relations between executors and consumers of utilities, establishing their rights and obligations, the procedure for concluding an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities, the procedure for monitoring the quality of the provision of utilities, the procedure for determining the amount of payments for utilities using metering devices and in their absence, the procedure for recalculating the amount of payments for certain types of utilities during the period of temporary absence of citizens in the occupied dwelling , the procedure for changing the amount of payment for utilities in the provision of utilities of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the established duration, determine the grounds and procedure for receiving the establishment or limitation of the provision of public services, and also regulate issues related to the occurrence of liability of executors and consumers of public services (paragraph 1).

Having analyzed the points 2, 7, 21, 40, 150 contested by the applicant, subparagraphs "c", "e", "f" of paragraph 35, paragraphs 44, 54, 88 of the Rules, paragraphs 10, 15 and 16 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules on compliance with the provisions of the current legislation, the court came to the correct conclusion that the Rules were adopted by the Government of the Russian Federation within the powers granted to it, the prescriptions of these points of the Rules in the contested part do not contradict the federal law or other normative legal act having great legal force, the rights of freedoms and do not violate legitimate interests.

Thus, the court correctly proceeded from the fact that the disputed ninth paragraph of Clause 2 of the Rules, which discloses the concept of communal services as the implementation of the activities of an executor (a legal entity, regardless of its organizational and legal form, or an individual entrepreneur) to supply consumers with any communal resource separately or 2 or more of them in any combination in order to ensure favorable and safe conditions for the use of residential, non-residential premises, common property in an apartment building, as well as land plots and residential buildings (households) located on them, does not contradict the provisions of Part 3 of Article 145, Articles 161, 164, as well as Article 15 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, from the content of which it is seen that the utility service is defined by them as the activity of the utility service provider, ensuring the acquisition of the corresponding utility resource and the delivery of this utility resource in order to ensure favorable and safe living conditions citizens.

The applicant's reference to the provisions of Article 779 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the contradiction of paragraph 2 of the Rules of which the applicant points out in the appeal, was correctly recognized by the court of first instance as unfounded, since this provision of the Code does not disclose the concept of "utilities" and does not regulate the legal relationship in question.

Do not refute the conclusion of the court of first instance on the legality of the contested norm of the Rules and the applicant's reference in the appeal against paragraph 2 of Article 13 of the Federal Law of December 7, 2011 N 416-FZ "On water supply and sanitation", which provides that the provisions on the power supply agreement provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and on the norms of Federal Law of July 27, 2010 N 190-FZ "On Heat Supply", containing similar provisions, which, as the applicant mistakenly believes, were subject to application by the court when resolving this case.

In accordance with part 4 of article 154, part 3 of article 162 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the Rules determine that communal resources are cold water, hot water, electric energy, natural gas, thermal energy, domestic gas in cylinders, solid fuel in the presence of stove heating used to provide public services. Domestic waste water discharged through centralized networks of engineering and technical support is also equated to communal resources.

Disagreeing with the applicant's allegations about the illegal imposition of clause 2 of the Rules on the obligation to pay for services for general household needs, which he did not order or consume, the court proceeding from the provisions of the Rules for the maintenance of common property in an apartment building, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation of August 13, 2006 g. N 491 (hereinafter - the Rules for the maintenance of common property), which do not provide for the inclusion of expenses for the payment of utility resources in the price of works and services for the maintenance of the common property of an apartment building (subparagraphs "g", "d" of paragraph 11 and paragraph 16), the court reasonably indicated in the decision that the owner of the premises, making a payment for the maintenance and repair of the premises, does not pay for the utilities consumed for the general needs of the building.

With such data, the conclusion of the court that services for the maintenance and repair of common property and utilities are independent types of activities for the management of an apartment building is legitimate.

Recognizing clause 7 of the Rules as legal, the court reasonably proceeded from the fact that its provisions, adopted in pursuance of the norms of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, providing that freedom of contract is not absolute and regulated by law, do not contradict clause 2 of Article 1 and Article 421 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Federation, securing the principle of freedom of contract.

There was no reason for the court to invalidate paragraph 21 of the Rules, since its provisions, in the contested part, providing for the responsibility of the resource supplying organization for the quality of the provision of a utility service of the corresponding type at the border of the section of internal engineering systems and centralized networks of engineering and technical support, unless otherwise specified in the agreement concluded by the resource supplying organization reproduce the provisions of part 15 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes general requirements for the management of an apartment building, and does not contradict Article 539 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as the applicant erroneously claims in the appeal, since this legal norm does not regulate relations related to the determination of the boundaries of responsibility for the regime and quality of the provision of public services of the corresponding type.

The court correctly disagreed with the applicant's assertion about the contradiction of the contested subparagraphs "c", "e", "f" of paragraph 35 of the Rules to paragraph 3 of Article 541 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which provides that in the case when a subscriber under an energy supply contract is a citizen who uses energy household consumption, he has the right to use energy in the amount he needs. At the same time, he reasonably proceeded from the fact that in accordance with Articles 2, 29, 36 of the Federal Law of December 30, 2009 N 384-FZ "Technical Regulations on the Safety of Buildings and Structures", the engineering and technical support system, including those designed to perform heating functions, must comply with the requirements of design documentation in order to ensure the safety requirements of buildings and structures during operation, while the requirements for microclimate parameters, depending on the purpose of buildings or structures, living conditions or activities of people in premises, are determined in construction and sanitary and epidemiological norms and rules.

Building codes and regulations SNiP 41-01-2003 "Heating, ventilation and air conditioning", adopted and enacted by the decree of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Construction and Housing and Utilities Complex on June 26, 2003 N 115, provides for restrictions on air temperature (up to 12 degrees Celsius) (paragraph two of sub-clause "b" of clause 5.1), therefore, as correctly indicated in the court's decision, the possibility of independent dismantling, disconnection of heating elements, unauthorized increase in the heating surface of heating devices installed in the living room, provided for by the design and (or ) technical documentation for an apartment building or residential building, as well as unauthorized connection of consumer equipment to internal engineering systems or making changes to this system, regulating internal equipment or taking other actions, as a result of which the premises in an apartment building will be supported The air temperature is below 12 degrees Celsius. At the same time, this legal regulation does not abolish the right of a citizen who uses energy for household consumption in the amount he needs, as well as the right to reduce the heat load to certain values.

Therefore, the conclusion of the court of first instance that subparagraphs "c", "d", "e" of paragraph 35 of the Rules do not contradict the current federal legislation, is justified.

References in the appeal against the provisions of Articles 10, 290, 541 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, on the basis of which, according to the applicant, the consumer has the right to independently dismantle or disconnect heating elements, independently increase the heating surfaces of heating devices and make changes to the building engineering systems, are based on incorrect interpretation of the substantive law and do not affect the correctness of the court's conclusion on the legality of the contested provisions paragraph 35 Of the Rules, since the named norms of the Code do not establish the requirements for the safety of buildings and structures during operation and for the microclimate of the room.

Based on the content of parts 6.3 and 7.1 of article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, enacted by the Federal by law dated June 4, 2011 N 123-FZ "On Amendments to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation", providing that payment for utilities consumed when using common property in an apartment building is separated from utility bills and is taken into account separately, the court of first instance came to a reasonable conclusion that paragraphs 40 and 44 of the Rules do not contradict the above requirements of Housing code Of the Russian Federation, since the contested provisions in the composition of utility bills separately determine the payment for utility services provided to the consumer in residential or non-residential premises and the payment for utilities consumed for general household needs.

The disputed provisions of the Rules do not contradict, as the court correctly indicated in the decision, and article 37 Of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes the principle of determining the size of shares in common ownership of common property in an apartment building, which is a general rule and is subject to application in connection with the use of common property, incurring mandatory costs for maintaining common property in an apartment building (Part 2 of Article 39 Of the Code).

According to clause 10 of Appendix No. 2 to the Rules, which provides a formula for determining the amount of payment for communal services provided for general needs in an apartment building equipped with a collective (general) metering device for the 1st residential premises (apartment) or non-residential premises using the volume indicator , calculated in accordance with the above rule of proportional distribution, as well as paragraphs 15 and Appendix No. 2 to the Rules, which contain formulas 13 and 14, which determine the volume (amount) of heat energy per room provided for the billing period for general needs in an apartment building , if part or all residential and non-residential premises are equipped with an individual metering device and if there are no individual metering devices in all residential and non-residential premises in the house, respectively, the volume of thermal energy per room is determined taking into account the rule on the distribution of the volume (amount) of thermal energy, n provided for the billing period for general house needs in proportion to the area of \u200b\u200bthe room.

Taking into account the foregoing and taking into account that there is no other normative legal act of great legal force that establishes other rules and indicators for calculating this volume, the court came to the correct conclusion that paragraph 44 of the Rules, paragraphs 10, 15 and 16 of Appendix N 2 to the Rules do not contradict the current legislation, including the norms of the Federal Law "On Heat Supply", which the applicant erroneously points to in the appeal.

Recognizing clause 54 of the Rules as a general rule that the amount of payment for utility services is calculated by the contractor based on the volume of utility resources used during the billing period in the production of utility services for heating and hot water supply, and the tariff (price) for utilities used in production resource, the court of first instance rightfully proceeded from the fact that its provisions prescribe to determine the amount of payment for utility services in accordance with formula 20 Appendix No. 2 to these Rules as the sum of two components: the product of the volume of hot water consumed by the consumer, prepared by the contractor, and the tariff for cold water, and the cost of the utility resource used to heat cold water in the production of utility services for hot water supply, attributed to the consumer in each residential and non-residential premises in proportion to the volume of hot water consumed during the billing period in residential or non-residential premises.

In this case, the volume of the communal resource used in the production is determined based on the readings of the metering device, which fixes the volume of such a communal resource. In the event that one communal resource is used both for the provision of the corresponding type of communal service and for the production and provision of another type of communal service, the volume of the resource spent on each type of communal service is recorded separately. In the absence of metering devices, the volume of such a resource is determined by the specific costs of producing a unit of heat energy for heating purposes or a unit of hot water for hot water supply.

With such data, the court's conclusion about the legality of paragraph 54 of the Rules is legitimate.

Based on part 11 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, which establishes that the contractor does not have the right to redistribute the amounts of payments for utilities that are not paid by the payer or the provision of which is not interrupted by the temporary absence of the payer, between the other payers in this house, except for cases when recalculation payments for the period of temporary absence is carried out in the manner approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, the court of first instance came to the correct conclusion about the compliance of paragraph 88 of the Rules, which excludes the recalculation of the amount of this payment in the temporary absence of the consumer in the dwelling, called the norm of the Code.

The reference in the appeal that the cited provisions of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation were not subject to application to the issue in question is unfounded and cannot serve as a reason for canceling the court decision.

Does not contradict the requirements of the current legislation, as the court correctly pointed out in the decision, and paragraph 150, in the contested part, since its provisions are permissive in nature and do not abolish the right of a citizen who uses communal services to satisfy personal, family, household, household and other needs, does not related to the implementation of entrepreneurial activity, on the presentation of the requirements to the contractor provided for The law Of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights".

The court, having established that the provisions of paragraphs 2, 7, 21, subparagraphs "c", "e", "f" of paragraph 35, "\u003e paragraphs 40, 44, 54, 88, 150 of the Rules, paragraphs 10, 15 and 16 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules, in the contested part, do not contradict the current federal law, the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the applicant do not violate, rightfully, on the basis of part 1 of article 253 Of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, decided to refuse to satisfy this part of the requirements.

The first instance court, refusing to satisfy the request for invalidation subparagraph "c" paragraph 34 Of the Rules, according to which the consumer is obliged, in the presence of an individual, general (apartment) or room metering device, to take monthly readings from the 23rd to the 25th day of each month and transfer the received readings to the performer or an authorized person no later than the 26th day of the current months, proceeded from the fact that, ensuring the fulfillment of the requirements of Part 1 of Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation had the right to establish such an obligation. At the same time, I took into account that subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 Of the Rules provides for cases when, in accordance with the contested in part of the Rules, an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities and (or) decisions of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, actions to take readings of such metering devices are required to be performed by an executor (authorized person) or another organization.

Point 3 Of the Rules, specifying the contested prescription, provides that the contractor must take the readings of individual metering devices, including by methods that allow the possibility of remote transmission of information, in particular by telephone, using the Internet.

The court concluded that the subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 of the Rules, having determined the methods and conditions for the fulfillment of the obligation, both to remove and transfer the readings of individual metering devices, and, securing the possibility of its implementation by other persons, cannot be considered as violating the applicant's rights.

However, this conclusion of the court was made without taking into account the fact that the obligation imposed on a consumer citizen who uses communal resources to satisfy personal, family, household, household and other needs not related to entrepreneurial activity, is obliged to transfer the testimony received to the performer or to a person authorized by him no later than On the 26th of the current month, including by methods that allow the possibility of remote transmission of information about the readings of metering devices (telephone, Internet, etc.), cannot always be performed by citizens-consumers due to the lack of such an opportunity.

In subparagraph "g" of paragraph 31 of the Rules, it is not indicated by what other methods that allow the possibility of transmitting the readings of metering devices, except for "telephone", "Internet" this information can be transferred to the contractor.

As the representative of the Government of the Russian Federation explained in the court session of the Appeals Board, in connection with the entry into force of these Of the Rules a consumer citizen is not entitled, in the manner that was previously valid, to independently fill out receipts indicating the readings of an individual metering device, calculate the consumed resources and pay for them before the 10th day of the month following the calculated one.

Thus, before the entry into force of the Rules, information on the readings of the meter could be sent to the contractor and after the currently set period - after the 26th day of the current month.

At present, for a certain category of consumer citizens, who are the weakest and least protected party in the contract for the provision of utilities, in need of special protection of their rights, the fulfillment of the obligation to transfer information about the readings of metering devices to the contractor by the 26th of the current month in connection with the absence of a telephone, the Internet, and other means of communication, is difficult to implement, and in some cases impracticable. Since the citizen-consumer is imposed without his consent and taking into account the presence or absence of the opportunity to fulfill the obligation to transfer the readings of an individual metering device by the 26th day of the current month, in fact, the contract for the provision of services to the consumer-citizen includes a condition that infringes upon his rights, that inadmissible by virtue article 16 Law of the Russian Federation of February 7, 1992 N 2300-1 "On Protection of Consumer Rights" (with subsequent amendments and additions).

At the same time, the Board of Appeals takes into account that violation of the deadline for submitting the readings of an individual metering device entails unfavorable consequences for the citizen-consumer: the payment for the utility service is determined from the calculated average monthly consumption of the utility resource, but not more than 3 calculation periods (paragraph 59 of the Rules). After these maximum billing periods, utility bills will be calculated based on consumption standards. If the consumer fails to fulfill his obligation to transfer the readings of the individual metering device by the 26th day of the current month for more than three months in a row, the performer, by virtue of paragraph 84 of the Rules, is obliged to conduct the check specified in paragraph 82 of the Rules and take the readings of the individual meter.

With such data, the consumer citizen, in order to ensure the principle of equality of the parties and fairness, should be given the opportunity to influence the terms of the contract concerning the imposition on him of the obligation to transfer the readings obtained from the meter to the contractor or a person authorized by him no later than the 26th day of the current month, in order to he was not assigned a duty that he could not fulfill, which would make it possible to exclude violation of his rights.

Refusing to satisfy the application in this part of the requirement, the court of first instance indicated that the citizen-consumer, in accordance with subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 of the Rules, has the ability to instruct other persons to transfer the readings of metering devices to the performer. However, this circumstance in itself does not exempt the consumer citizen from fulfilling the obligation to transfer information about the readings of the meter within the prescribed period to the performer or a person authorized by him.

In accordance with the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, citizens and organizations are obliged to pay utility bills in full and on time (part 1 of Article 153); payment for utilities is paid on a monthly basis until the tenth day of the month following the expired month, unless a different period is established by the contract for the management of an apartment building or by a decision of the general meeting of members of a housing partnership, housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative created in order to meet the needs of citizens for housing in compliance with the federal law on the cooperative; payment for utilities is paid on the basis of payment documents submitted no later than the first day of the month following the expired month, unless a different period is established by the management agreement for an apartment building or by a decision of the general meeting of members of a homeowners' association, housing cooperative or other specialized consumer cooperative (part 1 , 2 article 155).

From the content of the cited legal provisions (in fact, in a similar version, they were in effect even before the entry into force of the Rules), it appears that the consumer is not obliged to transfer the received readings of metering devices to the contractor or an authorized person no later than the 26th of the current month. Inclusion in the contract on the provision of utilities to the consumer of a condition that is not directly provided for by the law, but does not contradict it, is possible only by agreement of the parties in accordance with Article 421 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

With such data, the Board of Appeals considers the court decision to be canceled in part and, in accordance with Article 328 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, to make a new decision in this part, which invalidates subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 of the Rules regarding the consumer's obligation in the presence of an individual, general (apartment) or of a room metering device to monthly transfer the received readings to the performer or to a person authorized by him no later than the 26th day of the current month. The rest of the decision shall be left unchanged.

Guided by Articles 328, 329 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the Board of Appeals of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

defined:

the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 3, 2012 to cancel in part, to make a new decision in this part, which invalidates subparagraph "c" of paragraph 34 of the Rules for the provision of communal services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation Federation of May 6, 2011 N 354, in terms of the consumer's obligation in the presence of an individual, general (apartment) or room metering device, monthly transfer the readings received to the performer or a person authorized by him no later than the 26th day of the current month.

In the rest of the court's decision to leave unchanged, S.'s appeal - dismissed.

A. I. FEDIN presiding

Board members

G.V. MANOKHINA

B) do not apply to relations that arise during the supply of gas to meet the household needs of citizens and the regulation of which is carried out in accordance with the Rules for the supply of gas to meet the household needs of citizens, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation of July 21, 2008 N 549 ;

C) enter into force upon the expiration of 2 months from the date of entry into force of the changes that are made to the Rules for the establishment and determination of standards for the consumption of utilities specified in paragraph four of subparagraph "b" of paragraph 4 of this Resolution.

3. To establish that clarifications on the application of the Rules approved by this Resolution are given by the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation.

A) within 2 months, submit, in agreement with the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and with the participation of interested federal executive bodies, to the Government of the Russian Federation proposals for improving the Rules for the supply of gas to meet the household needs of citizens, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 21, 2008 No. 549, and the main provisions of the functioning of retail electricity markets, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of August 31, 2006 No. 530;

To approve, in agreement with the Federal Tariff Service, an approximate form of a payment document for paying a fee for the maintenance and repair of residential premises and the provision of utilities, as well as guidelines for filling it out;

Submit, in agreement with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Federal Tariff Service, in accordance with the established procedure, to the Government of the Russian Federation, a draft act on amendments to the Rules for establishing and determining standards for the consumption of utilities, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 306 dated May 23, 2006, including:

Exclusion from the volumes of communal resources taken into account when determining the standards for the consumption of communal services in a residential building, the volumes of communal resources provided for the maintenance of the common property of an apartment building, and standard technological losses of communal resources;

The procedure for establishing standards for the consumption of utilities, with the exception of gas supply, when using a land plot and outbuildings;

C) within a 5-month period, approve, in agreement with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the approximate terms of an energy service agreement aimed at saving and (or) increasing the efficiency of the consumption of utilities when using common property in an apartment building;

D) within 6 months, approve the criteria for the presence (absence) of the technical feasibility of installing individual, general (apartment), collective (general house) metering devices, as well as the form of the survey report to establish the presence (absence) of the technical possibility of installing such metering devices and the procedure filling it out.

5. To recommend to the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to approve the standards for the consumption of utilities in residential premises, the standards for the consumption of utilities for general house needs, the standards for the consumption of utilities when using the land plot and outbuildings no later than 2 months from the date of entry into force of the changes that are introduced c The rules for establishing and determining the standards for the consumption of utilities specified in the fourth paragraph of subparagraph "b" of paragraph 4 of this Resolution.

Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 23, 2006 N 307 "On the procedure for providing public utilities to citizens" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2006, N 23, Art. 2501);

Clause 3 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 21, 2008 N 549 "On the procedure for supplying gas to meet the household needs of citizens" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2008, N 30, Art. 3635);

Clause 5 of the changes that are made to the acts of the Government of the Russian Federation approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 29, 2010 N 580 "On amendments and invalidation of certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2010, N 31, art. . 4273).

1. These Rules regulate relations on the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings, owners and users of residential buildings, including the relationship between contractors and consumers of utilities, establish their rights and obligations, the procedure for concluding an agreement containing provisions on the provision of utilities services, as well as the procedure for monitoring the quality of the provision of utilities, the procedure for determining the amount of payment for utilities using metering devices and in their absence, the procedure for recalculating the amount of payment for certain types of utilities during the period of temporary absence of citizens in the occupied dwelling, the procedure for changing the amount of payment for utilities in the provision of utilities of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the established duration, determine the grounds and procedure for the suspension or restriction of the provision of utilities, as well as regulate issues related to the onset of liability of performers and consumers of public services.

"in-house engineering systems" - engineering communications (networks), mechanical, electrical, sanitary-technical and other equipment, which are the common property of owners of premises in an apartment building, intended for supplying utility resources from centralized engineering networks to intra-apartment equipment, as well as for production and provision by the contractor of communal services for heating and (or) hot water supply (in the absence of centralized heat supply and (or) hot water supply).

In residential buildings, in-house engineering systems include those located within the land plot on which the residential building is located, as well as engineering communications (networks) located in a residential building, mechanical, electrical, sanitary and other equipment, using which utility services are consumed;

"intra-apartment equipment" - engineering communications (networks), mechanical, electrical, sanitary-technical and other equipment located in a residential or non-residential premises in an apartment building and not included in the intra-building engineering systems of an apartment building, using which utilities are consumed;

"home ownership" - a dwelling house (part of a dwelling house) and adjoining and (or) detached outbuildings (a garage, a bathhouse (sauna, swimming pool), a greenhouse (winter garden) on a common land plot with a dwelling house (part of a dwelling house) , premises for keeping livestock and poultry, other objects);

"individual metering device" - a measuring instrument (a set of measuring instruments and additional equipment) used to determine the volume (amount) of consumption of a communal resource in one residential or non-residential premises in an apartment building (except for residential premises in a communal apartment), in a residential building ( parts of a residential building) or home ownership;

"performer" - a legal entity, regardless of its organizational and legal form, or an individual entrepreneur providing the consumer with utilities;

"collective (common house) metering device" - a measuring instrument (a set of measuring instruments and additional equipment) used to determine the volume (amount) of a communal resource supplied to an apartment building;

"utilities" - the implementation of the contractor's activities to provide consumers with any communal resource individually or 2 or more of them in any combination in order to ensure favorable and safe conditions for the use of residential, non-residential premises, common property in an apartment building, as well as land and on them residential buildings (households);

"communal resources" - cold water, hot water, electric energy, natural gas, thermal energy, domestic gas in cylinders, solid fuel in the presence of stove heating, used for the provision of communal services. Domestic waste water discharged through centralized networks of engineering and technical support is also equated to communal resources;

The current legislation is subject to quite significant adjustments every year, and even those people who constantly understand the laws do not always have time to track the changes that are taking place.

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Citizens, on the other hand, generally try to pay attention only to those norms of the current legislation that directly affect some of their areas of life, and, first of all, it concerns payments for utilities, which make up most of the budget expenditures of the majority of families.

In particular, it will be useful for many to familiarize themselves with the norms introduced by Resolution 354 with the latest changes in 2020 on utilities.

What you need to know

The recalculation of utilities is carried out in full compliance with the norms stipulated by the current legislation. If the owner of residential real estate has some kind of metering devices, the recalculation procedure will be carried out automatically after the receipt of information about the updated data.

If there are no devices, and the owner will be absent for a certain period of time together with other people who live in the apartment on a permanent basis, the recalculation will be carried out according to the standard scheme.

The recalculation procedure itself provides for the repeated calculation of the payment of a certain person for the utilities used by him. If any overlays or errors were found that were discovered in the process of further operation of the equipment, the management company or the housing and communal administration will fully compensate for the overpayment.

In practice, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the recalculation is carried out for the reason that property owners pay for utilities not in the amount they have consumed, but in accordance with the established standards.

If the owner of the real estate decided to install specialized metering devices in an apartment or a private house, this means that from that moment on, they will be paid for utilities in accordance with the indicators of these devices, and not according to established standards. At the same time, it often happens that the equipment works with some kind of malfunction.

The norm is set in the form of 1/12 of last year's consumption of resources, in connection with which every month users of utilities pay the corresponding amount established by the results of last year.

At the end of the heating season, in various apartment buildings equipped with common meters, the housing and communal organization carries out the recalculation procedure and returns the consumer's overpayment. In some cases, adjustments are made in the opposite direction.

The most common option for overpayments is private amounts, when the owner of the apartment does not send the indicators of his meter to the state authorities for one reason or another, as a result of which he must be recalculated the next month.

It is worth noting that the recalculation procedure has legal grounds and is carried out in accordance with the norms specified in Resolution No. 354, which is devoted entirely to the provision of public utilities to citizens. In 2017, certain adjustments were made to this normative act, in connection with which we can now accurately talk about how the recalculations are carried out.

This normative act reflects only this procedure in houses that are not equipped with meters, since with counters, recalculation is carried out automatically after loading all the necessary information from metering devices into the information base.

Each citizen who is the owner or tenant of a certain real estate, in accordance with current legislation, belongs to the category of consumers, since on a regular basis he uses state resources provided by various companies in accordance with an agreement drawn up.

In this case, the state acts as the guarantor of the legal implementation of the relationship between the consumer and the contractor, and in accordance with the norms of the above resolution, everyone has the right to receive a recalculation for utilities if there are certain grounds.

Resolution and latest amendments to it

The amendments made to the specified normative act were carried out in accordance with the norms of Resolution No. 1498, which was adopted on December 26, 2012, and have been consistently implemented since 2020. The most significant in this case are innovations that affected the procedure for calculating amounts for general household needs.

If the previously indicated payment belonged to the category of utilities, then from the new year it became housing, that is, the costs necessary to pay for hot and cold water supply, as well as water disposal, energy supply and heating are related to the costs of living quarters.

The amount of costs required to meet general house needs is established as the balance between the indicators recorded on all installed metering devices in the house, as well as the meters that are present in the apartment of each tenant.

In this case, the chosen method of accrual will directly depend on whether there is a corresponding metering device in an apartment building, since in the absence of one, the amount of payments is set in accordance with the area of \u200b\u200bthe apartment in proportion to the total area of \u200b\u200bthe house.

First of all, the adjustments made affected the requirements that apply to the procedure for calculating payments for general household needs. The amount of due payments for the apartment is now set in accordance with the billing period, depending on the area of \u200b\u200bthe residential apartment.

In accordance with Resolution No. 354, it is necessary to determine the standards for general household expenses by June 1, 2020, and if, according to the results of the reporting period, the exceeded standards for the use of utilities by citizens are not recorded, the costs in this part will have to be compensated by the management company or the HOA, while while the distribution of the direct standard will occur between the tenants.

The next adjustment affected the procedure for recalculations for consumed utilities in the event that tenants are absent from their apartment for a certain period of time. If, at the same time, metering devices are installed in the room, recalculation, in principle, will not be carried out, since the meters simply do not have to record the consumption of resources.

At the same time, if the consumer has documents confirming the impossibility of installing individual metering devices in the house, he is given the opportunity to recalculate.

Another innovation affects the tariffication procedure for residential real estate, in which there are no registered tenants.

If, before January 1, 2020, deductions for utilities were made exclusively for those apartments in which registered or actually residing tenants were present, in accordance with the new rules, the amount will be charged depending on the total number of homeowners, and not on how many users utilities are available in fact.

The owners of empty apartments are fully charged with the payment of all charges in the field of housing and communal services in accordance with the established standards.

General Provisions

Resolution No. 354 includes:

• updated coefficients, in accordance with which the established standards for drainage are determined;
• a detailed description of the installation procedure for measuring equipment;
• list of motivational measures for installing measuring devices;
• a simplified payment scheme for heating apartments and private houses;
• an indication that now there is no need to provide information from the counters;
• an indication that in the event of a temporary absence of tenants in the apartment, it is not necessary to pay for utilities for it;
• the order in which all specified conditions must be met.

Special attention is paid to the fact that the contractor is liable to consumers in the event that an inappropriate quality of services is recorded, damage to the health or life of citizens due to the unsatisfactory quality of the services provided, the consumer does not receive the necessary information about the quality of the services provided to him, as well as violations the established conditions of the contract. In this case, the contractor must completely release the citizen from the need to pay for utilities or pay him appropriate compensation.

Terms of Service

The key conditions for the provision of utilities are as follows:

• consumers receive utilities from the moment that is determined by housing legislation;
• the composition of utilities provided to the consumer is established in accordance with the degree of improvement of a residential or apartment building;
• the consumer must receive a full list of utilities provided for by the drawn up contract;
• if the heat energy used in the house is supplied through the use of centralized supply networks, the contractor must act in accordance with the periods of the heating period, which are established by the authorized body;
• the provision of utilities to consumers is carried out in accordance with the concluded paid contract;
• the conditions under which utilities are provided are established in accordance with the drawn up agreement.

The parties in the process of drawing up such an agreement are a consumer in the form of a person interested in obtaining certain utilities, as well as an executor in the form of a company responsible for providing housing with all the necessary utilities.

The consumer can independently decide who exactly will act as his utility supplier - a management company, a housing and communal organization, an HOA or a housing cooperative.

The contract drawn up between the parties must reflect all the necessary conditions and rules in accordance with which the agreed services must be provided. Residents should receive all the necessary information about certain points of the drawn up agreement, and also know about the order in which this document is drawn up.

In the event that the consumer announces his intention or is already engaged in the consumption of utilities, the management company can issue a specialized act for him, regulating the main terms and norms in which the required amount will be transferred to the supplier.

Regardless of the type of property available, citizens should be provided with a full list of the services they need. In addition, the user has the right to independently regulate and add to the drawn up agreement additional measures aimed at improving the house along with the adjacent territory.

If the services provided are of low quality or there are some other justified reasons, the consumer has the right to issue an act indicating a violation of the terms of the contract.

Rights and obligations of the parties

The contractor is responsible before the law and the consumer in the following situations:

• the quality of the services provided does not meet the established standards;
• poor quality of services has resulted in damage to the health or life of citizens;
• the consumer does not receive reliable and complete information about the services provided to him;
• the consumer incurred certain losses due to the fact that the contractor did not provide him with quality services.

If the contractor violated the rules affecting the provision of quality services, the consumer can count on complete exemption from the need to make any payment. In some cases, it is also provided for the payment of a forfeit in the amount that is determined in accordance with applicable law.

The contractor can count on being completely relieved of responsibility in the event of the provision of insufficient quality utilities in the event that the reason for the deterioration is the occurrence of any insurmountable circumstances or the actions of the consumer himself.

In this case, insurmountable obstacles do not include violations of various obligations on the part of the contractor's counterparties, as well as the lack of the required funds necessary to ensure high-quality provision of services.

Regardless of whether an agreement was concluded between the consumer and the contractor, compensation for damage caused due to the provision of public services of inadequate quality must still be made.

If certain damage has been caused to the health or life of the consumer, compensation will be paid over the next ten years from the moment of fixing the insufficient quality of services. The maximum permissible period during which the victim can file a claim with the requirement to consider the fact of the damage caused is three years.

If the contractor, who is responsible for the provision of services, for one reason or another, has caused damage to the property or health of the consumer, the latter must draw up the corresponding act in several copies.

At the same time, the consumer must carefully use the engineering communications installed in his apartment, as well as allow authorized employees of the management company to conduct all kinds of checks or take readings from metering devices. In addition, the duties of the consumer include the timely transfer of payment for utilities, as well as immediate notification of the contractor about an emergency condition or any violations in general or internal communications.

Calculation and payment

In accordance with the current legislation, the billing period for utilities is one month, while the amount of payments is set in accordance with the tariffs adopted by the resource provider, taking into account territorial conditions and all kinds of surcharges.

The payment documentation must separately reflect the services provided in the dwelling, as well as those that were required to meet the general needs of the house.

It is worth noting the fact that a whole section is devoted to this, which regulates in detail the rules for calculating payments in a number of situations. In particular, this applies to the calculation procedure according to the readings of the installed metering devices, as well as in the case of their absence or partial equipment of the apartment. In addition, the section indicates a number of other situations, in some of which the use of the formulas specified in Appendix No. 2 to this resolution is provided.

Payment for utilities must be made before the 10th of the month that follows the settlement.

If the transfer is carried out on the basis of the payment documentation of the contractor, the amount must be transferred by the 1st day of the same month. Other terms can be set only in the process of signing the contract, in accordance with which the provision of utilities is carried out.

Recalculate and Resize Board

The procedure for recalculating utilities is provided in the event that people were absent from the apartment for a certain period of time and, accordingly, did not consume utilities.

In this case, recalculation can be carried out only if the accrual of utilities was carried out in accordance with the standards, and not on the basis of meter readings, since, otherwise, the citizen provides instrument readings that will indicate the complete absence of consumption.

Also, adjustments were made to the drainage ratio. At the moment, all the coefficients are being recalculated that were in effect earlier and directly related to the established drainage standards.

After the final implementation of this procedure, it is planned to introduce new coefficients, in accordance with which the cost of the provided utilities will be calculated.

A decision is made to adjust the size of tariffs. In particular, it is planned to reduce their cost by 10-15%, but so far this innovation is only being considered by state bodies.

Other sections

In addition, the new decree also regulates the resolution of conflict situations. In the overwhelming majority of cases, controversial situations arise due to incorrect calculation of the payment of utilities or for the reason that the authorized employees of the utilities do not want to perform their direct duties in order to eliminate certain problems that have arisen in their subordinate economy.

In any case, if a problem situation arises, the citizen will need to contact the supplier with a corresponding statement. In accordance with the established rules, it must be considered in a timely manner, after which a report drawn up in writing must be submitted to the applicant.

If this did not happen, then in this case the applicant will have the opportunity to submit an appeal to the society for the protection of consumer rights, the courts or the prosecutor's office.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the parties in such situations try to resolve the conflict in the pre-trial order.

If the conflict reaches an insoluble stage, the final result can only be obtained in the course of the trial, when the relevant authorities impose on the guilty execution of the applicant's demands or refuse to satisfy them.

What has been changed

The main revision, which took place in 2020, affected the verification procedure. The time of the inspection in the situations that are established by this clause is set within two hours from the moment the consumer received a message about the violation of the quality of the provided utilities.