Utility tariff growth exceeds forecasts
The growth of utility tariffs in many regions significantly exceeds government forecasts.
Citizens report tariff increases of 50 and even 100% in 2011. The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation called for a complete abandonment of utility bills and tariff policies. It is noteworthy that, along with the increase in tariffs in the housing and communal services sector, accounts payable are growing annually, as well as the number of technological accidents and outages. Two-thirds of Russians are dissatisfied with the state of affairs in housing and communal services. More than 60% of citizens are dissatisfied with the quality of public services.
70% believe that further increases in housing and communal services tariffs will make paying for utilities unaffordable for the family budget.
Additional services
And then an unpleasant surprise awaited me.
Insurance
When filling out the necessary papers, as if casually, the bank employee informed me that it was necessary to take out insurance , and this was a prerequisite for concluding an agreement.
She even calculated how much insurance would cost me - 22,000 rubles. Moreover, this amount will be written off from the money that I will have to receive in my hands.
I, of course, immediately said that this issue was discussed during the conversation with the operator, and I was assured that this condition was not mandatory. But the bank employee calmly continued to insist on her point.
Package of paid services
True, she explained that in order not to take out insurance, I would have to sign up for a paid package.
And again I calculated its cost - 15,900 rubles. It includes SMS notifications, card reissue and PIN code restoration in case of damage or loss.
All services are paid once and are valid for the entire duration of the loan. She explained all this to me with a sympathetic look, considering my benefit in this. And I agreed. The employee also casually mentioned that the bank would send me another additional card, which should arrive at their branch in a month. If I want to use it, I can come get it. Otherwise, they dispose of it themselves.
Results of the “hotline” of the Public Chamber Commission on Social Issues.
Elena Nikolaeva, chairman of the social commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation:
“The growth of tariffs in the form in which it has been occurring over the past 20 years indicates a flawed approach to tariff policy...”
These data, with reference to the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), were provided by the chairman of the social commission of the Public Chamber, Elena Nikolaeva. On March 23, the Public Chamber (PC) held a hearing on the results of the hotline, which received complaints from citizens dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the housing and communal services sector.
Having received more than 4.5 thousand complaints in three months, the OP came to the conclusion: “the vast majority of citizens are not satisfied with the work of the management companies on whose balance sheet their residential premises are located.” The OP believes that citizens are dissatisfied with constant interruptions in electricity, water, and gas supplies and are completely unprepared to pay the increasing and often illegal items on payment receipts.
It is noteworthy that the OP experts tried to respond in writing to citizens’ complaints, and very often the answers contain direct recommendations “not to pay” or “not to pay, warning of objections in writing.” At the same time, the most effective way to fight for “fair tariffs” is called consolidation of residents - “people have long used and quite widely the most accurate way to express their local protest and disagreement: non-payment of utility services in general.”
Calls to refuse to pay utility bills can be considered extremism. But familiarization with specific complaints shows that refusal to pay may be justified. Thus, in the Dmitrovsky district of the Moscow region, prices for natural gas have increased by 300% over the past four years (from 1,109 rubles to 3.3 rubles per cubic meter). Residents of Astrakhan report that tariffs for garbage collection in 2010 increased by 100%. In Moscow, residents also note an increase in utility tariffs by more than 30%. The OP website has collected dozens and hundreds of similar complaints from different regions, which the OP considers “a violation of the 15 percent limit on tariff growth established by the government.” However, the abnormal increase in tariffs is not an annoying misunderstanding, but a meaningful government policy.
“The growth of tariffs in the form in which it has been occurring over the past 20 years indicates the flawed approach to tariff policy in Russia, the ineffectiveness of management of regional, city and village administrations in the housing and communal services sector. The more tariffs grow, the more indifferent the leadership of a region, region, city, or village is to the needs of people, the more impudently and greedily the management of utility companies and resource suppliers along the entire technological chain behave:
- generation (energy stations, thermal power plants, centralized boiler houses, water intakes),
- transportation (highways, pipelines, power lines),
- sales of utility energy resources to consumers.
With the current policy of inflating tariffs, suppliers have no motivation at all to reduce their own production costs,” OP experts note.
They do not particularly bother themselves with improving the quality of their products and goods: they lower the temperature of the coolant, do not ensure uninterrupted supply, and are not responsible for changes and surges in the voltage of electrical networks and the composition of drinking water. As a consequence: planned and unscheduled outages of water, electricity, heat. “An attempt by the residents of the house to reduce fees for low-quality and unsupplied resources is unsuccessful, even through the courts,” the OP notes. The experts' conclusions are also confirmed by public surveys. According to surveys of able-bodied citizens (conducted by the SuperJob.ru portal), less than 10% of respondents notice improvements in the housing and communal services sector. Half of citizens believe that the quality of housing and communal services has not changed over the past year, and about a third believe that this quality has worsened.
The current work of housing and communal services is considered “normal” by only 23% of Russians. And about 67% of able-bodied citizens believe that housing and communal services are working “badly” or “very poorly.” “Good” and “very good” ratings are given by only 4% and 1% of respondents, respectively.
As an alternative to the current tariff system, experts propose methods of popular control and popular resistance. In addition to recommendations to refuse to pay bills, OPs plan to create a control network to monitor tariffs on the basis of regional OPs. However, many experts admit that the opacity of expenses of energy and utility companies, as well as their direct connection with local authorities and courts, does not allow citizens to hope for quick success.
- Sources:
- Press service of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation
- VTsIOM
- Arguments and Facts
- Independent newspaper
Step-by-step instructions: how to refuse imposed services and get your money back
In order to refuse the imposed service and return the money spent, the client should first try to resolve the issue through pre-trial proceedings.
