Basis for recalculation
Nobody can recalculate services so easily; reasons are needed for this. They can all be found in the same Resolution. These include:
- Temporary absence of residents.
- Providing low-quality services or their absence during a certain period of time.
- Provision of services in an incomplete volume.
- Residents have certain benefits.
- Not living in an apartment.
- More people living in an apartment than registered there.
Based on the latter reason, a certain amount can be charged additionally.
Is it possible to recalculate for low-quality utilities?
This is possible because services of inadequate quality are one of the grounds for recalculation. This is enshrined in Article 9 of the above-mentioned act.
New building without renovation and recalculation for housing and communal services
A common problem for residents of new buildings is that the apartment in them is not ready yet, renovations are underway, no one lives in it, but you still have to pay bills for utilities, not only in your new building, but also at your place of residence. By doing this, housing and communal services do not violate the law in any way; on the contrary, they act according to it. You cannot not pay; the only thing you can do is demand a recalculation.
You can write a statement on one of the above grounds for recalculating payments. And if you already have registration at the new address, in this case you can take a certificate that you pay utilities there and transfer it to your old place of residence.
Can utilities be recalculated for three years?
Based on the Resolution, the recalculation is made for the period of the corresponding basis. As a rule, a recalculation is made in 3 years due to the absence of a tenant. In fact, this is the maximum period for recalculation, since if it turns out to be longer, the management company may refuse. And in this case, you will have to go to court, which may refuse the claim if the other party applies Article 196 of the Civil Code, which contains a general limitation period of 3 years.
Recalculation of rent during temporary registration
Temporary registration (at the place of residence) does not provide grounds for exemption from paying utility bills.
If a person lives in one place for more than 5 days, then he needs to pay.
However, no one will want to pay for services at the place of primary registration and at the place of temporary registration. To do this, you can recalculate. See below for details.
If you don't live
If a person does not live in the apartment at all, then he accordingly does not use any resources provided by the company, and therefore should not pay for services not provided. And this is the basis for recalculation.
Like any other, this reason will have to be proven documented. If he lives in another place, and is not simply absent for a long time, then he must bring a certificate of payment at the new place of residence.
How to pay for housing and communal services, utilities, if you are leaving for a long time, where to go
Many of us often go somewhere for a long time, for example, on vacation, a business trip or to the country in the summer. The apartment remains empty, however, you need to pay for utilities.
If the apartment is empty for more than 5 days, you can save on services.
It will be necessary to prove the absence of residents with documents and write a statement. All documents can be submitted to the MFC. This can be done both after departure and before it.
The main thing is documents that confirm your absence. They can be different: travel tickets, temporary registration, various certificates and more.
Procedure for registration of recalculation
Recalculation of the fee for utility services is carried out for the number of full calendar days of the consumer’s absence, not including the day of departure from the residential premises and the day of arrival to it.
The consumer is required to submit a written application for recalculation of the amount of payment for CG before the start of the period of his temporary absence or no later than 30 days after the end of this period. The management company must make a recalculation within 5 working days after receiving such a statement.
The management company recalculates the amount of payment for utility services for the period of temporary absence of the consumer specified in the application; this period should not exceed six months.
If, after these 6 months, for which the management company recalculated the amount of payment for the utility bill, the period of temporary absence of the consumer continues, he is obliged to again submit to the management company a written application for recalculation for subsequent billing periods in connection with the extension of the period of his absence. In this case, the management company recalculates the amount of payment for the management company for the period specified in this application, but no more than 6 months following the period for which the management company has already made a recalculation.
Along with the application for recalculation, the consumer is obliged to provide the management company with documents that can confirm the duration of his absence. If this was not done, or if the documents provided do not confirm the period of absence specified in the application, the management company has the right to charge utility fees in full. Also, the Criminal Code has the right to apply penalties for late or incomplete payment of utility bills (Part 14, Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).
In a situation where an application for recalculation is submitted by the consumer within 30 days after the end of the period of temporary absence , the management company makes a recalculation for the period of temporary absence of its client, which, as mentioned earlier, must be documented.
Will management companies, homeowners associations and owners pay penalties and fines for late payments for utility services? Read our article.
The procedure for recalculating utilities
How does the recalculation take place? It is relevant only for residential premises where it is not possible to install special metering devices. The impossibility of installation must be confirmed by a special act.
Not all types of services are amenable to this procedure. Recalculation is carried out for:
- Gas with electricity, with the exception of gas supply services for heating.
- Hot and cold water.
- Drainage.
The procedure is not very complicated. You have reasons, for example, temporary absence, that is, the apartment was empty and no one consumed anything. You collect all the necessary documents and submit them to the MFC (in). Your application will be reviewed and a response will be given, and if agreed, the amount of payment will be recalculated for you.
Documents for recalculation
You will need a certain package of papers. It is small and there should not be any difficulties with it. This package includes:
- Application for recalculation.
- An act confirming the impossibility of installing metering devices.
- Documents that indicate that you have a certain basis for recalculation.
Act of recalculation of utilities: sample
It is quite difficult to find such a sample on the Internet. However, it is not needed, since it will be compiled by a representative of the housing and communal services authorities, and you just need to write an application and collect other papers.
Application for recalculation
There is a separate article on this topic (⇐), which you can read, which also contains a sample application. It also tells you how and where to submit it.
How to document the grounds
Competently submitting a request for recalculation to the management company and supervisory structures depends on how well these claims are substantiated.
Documents should always be attached to confirm the legality of the claim.
If the applicant is unable to substantiate his claims with documents, consideration of the complaint will be refused.
The list of documents required to confirm that a citizen is right depends on the individual characteristics of the situation. There is no clear list that will suit everyone to file a complaint.
Temperature check report
Any acts are drawn up in order to document some fact: provision of a service, low quality of service, lack of work, etc.
As an example: if the heating supply temperature is low during the cold season, a representative of the management company, a heating specialist and a representative of the residents are called, and a report is drawn up, which records: temperature, pressure and other technical nuances in the heating system.
Such a document is not drawn up at once; in order to draw it up correctly, you should contact the management company in advance with a complaint about the low temperature of the batteries and request that a specialist be called to carry out the appropriate measurements. You can also submit a written complaint to the Criminal Code regarding the non-compliance of the existing heating temperature with current standards and regulations.
If any services (gas, electricity, water) were supplied to a residential building by order of the management company, recalculation should be carried out automatically, without written requests from citizens.
If the company has not made the changed calculation, you should contact them in writing, presenting an advertisement or notice that hung in the entrance about the work being carried out or the residential complex services being disconnected.
ATTENTION! View the completed sample temperature control report:
Refusal to recalculate in case of temporary absence of a tenant, what to do
Before rushing with complaints and statements to various authorities, you must first find out why you were refused. A verbal explanation is not enough; you need to have a document in your hands with the specified reason for the refusal. This will help a lot and make your life easier in your search for justice. To do this, require an explanation in writing; the providing organization is obliged to give it to you.
After the reason for the refusal has become clear, you need to think about whether it is legal. There is no need to go to the prosecutor's office or court if all your rights are respected.
If the refusal was unlawful, then you can contact the prosecutor’s office, write a complaint and wait until the employees carry out all the necessary checks.
You can go straight to court. However, if we are talking about small amounts, then the prosecutor’s office will be enough.
How to submit an application to the Prosecutor's Office
An application to the territorial bodies of the Prosecutor's Office can be drawn up either in typewritten text or by hand. The main thing here is that it is on an A4 sheet of paper without any extraneous symbols or pictures.
Notice! The complaint is drawn up according to the standard template:
- upper right corner: full name of the Prosecutor's Unit indicating the full name of the prosecutor to whom the document is submitted. The same column also contains the applicant’s details: full name, registration and residence address, contact numbers. If a collective complaint is filed against the Criminal Code, it is not necessary to list all participants. It is enough to indicate one contact person (senior of the initiative group) and at the end of the application attach a list of signatures of all participants in the complaint;
- middle of the sheet: the obligatory word “application or complaint” (depending on the form of appeal). The first thing that is indicated in the text is who, when and in what form applied to the Criminal Code, and what response was received (or was not received at all). Next, the reason for which the need for recalculation arose and a list of documents from which this can be seen. Here it is important not only to indicate the violation of civil rights, but also references to specific provisions of the law according to which these rights are ensured (provided). When presenting your problem to the supervisory authorities, it is very important to provide specific and compelling arguments. Next, options for solving the problem that have arisen are indicated that are acceptable to the applicant;
- After the main contents of the document, it is necessary to indicate the date of preparation and put the signature of the person applying. Only after this a list of attached documents is compiled: “application”. The list must clearly indicate what type of document is attached, an original or a copy.
ATTENTION! Look at the completed sample application for the Criminal Code to the Prosecutor's Office:
Attention! Our qualified lawyers will assist you free of charge and around the clock on any issues. Find out more here.
Important documents in such a situation may be:
- technical passport of the house;
- checks confirming illegal expenditure of funds;
- a previously filed similar complaint to another authority;
- agreement with the management company.
The legislation does not establish clear deadlines within which supervisory authorities are required to respond to citizens’ complaints; it could be one week, or maybe a month.
Three month rule for non-submission of evidence
Resolution No. 354 established the right of the consumer to transfer the readings of his meters to the contractor, that is, the organization that provides residents with resources. The Executor, in turn, is obliged to accept them and calculate the fee in accordance with these data.
The tenant may or may not exercise this right. However, if he does not transmit the readings, then he will have to switch to another payment system. According to paragraph 59 of the Resolution, if the consumer does not provide data from his meters, the amount of the fee is calculated based on the average monthly consumption. But this situation cannot last indefinitely. The tenant has only 3 months during which such a system will apply to him. But after this period, according to paragraph 60, calculations will be based on standards for the consumption of utility services.
It is also worth noting that the law does not provide for recalculations for such transitions.
What is inadequate quality of housing and communal services?
Poor quality services provided by management companies include interruptions in the supply of resources or their low quality, which can only be determined by an expert using a professional method. The legislator gives requirements for the quality of resources in Resolution No. 354, Ch. 10. If the interruptions are due to circumstances that the company could not influence (natural phenomenon, disaster, emergency), then the service fee cannot be reduced.
Read Sample minutes of the general meeting of residents of an apartment building
| Cold water | In case of an accident:
The quality of water composition can be checked in the laboratory of Rospotrebnadzor. It must comply with the provisions of the SanPiN. The pressure in the tap can fluctuate between 0.03−0.6 MPa . If it differs by 25% from the norm, the cost of the resource for each hour of supply is reduced by 0.1% . If the deviation from the norm is more than 25% , then no fee will be charged for water, but you will have to clearly indicate the period when the violation was observed (number of hours, days). |
| Hot water |
|
| Sewerage | The permissible rate of system interruptions is 8 hours per month and 4 hours in a row. The cost of each hour can be reduced by 0.15% if the interruption is beyond the norm. |
| Light |
|
| Gas |
|
| Heating | You can only turn it off 1 day per month. At the same time, you can:
In case of deviations from the norm, it will be possible to reduce the cost of heating by 0.15% for each hour of poor supply. If heating is poor, the living room should become colder than 20 degrees , and the corner room - 18 . Temperature reduction is allowed only at night by 3 degrees . |
Determining the fact of violation
To fix it, you need to call an emergency team from:
- Gorgaz;
- Vodokanal;
- Heating networks;
- Energosbyt.
After the call, the complaint must be recorded in a special dispatch log, which is a confirmation of the appeal of the dissatisfied resident. The latter should write down the name of the dispatcher who accepted the call and the incoming telephone number. The dispatcher is obliged to inform the reason for the interruption and send a team to the specified address.
If it comes to quality, then he agrees with the applicant on the date for checking the services provided. If the date and time have not been set, then the check must be done within 2 hours after the call.
Emergency service workers are required to arrive with special equipment and check the quality of the service, with the exception of water. To determine its composition, you will have to take a sample and send it for analysis.
After the inspection, a report must be drawn up.
It states:
- premises address;
- Full name of the owner;
- the fact of violation of the terms of the contract - interruptions, poor quality, another problem;
- the period during which a violation of the terms of the contract for the supply of a resource occurs;
- the results of the examinations carried out, for example, the pressure level in the tap, the temperature in the room, etc.;
- date and time when the inspection was carried out;
- Full name of the responsible person who carried out the inspection or supervised it;
- signatures of inspectors and residents.
If, based on the results of the inspection, the employees of the management company refuse to draw up an act, the owner has the right to complain to the Housing Inspectorate. The interested person, to whose address the specialists arrived, has the right to invite witnesses - neighbors, elders in the house; these citizens are also required to sign the act, indicating their status. The act must be drawn up in 2 copies, one for the Criminal Code and the other for the applicant.
There are often situations when, during an inspection, it is discovered that there are no violations, and the owner cannot prove that he is right, because by the time the specialists arrived, the quality of service had been restored.
Then you should invite an independent organization that can come at any time upon request and conduct an examination.
If the owner does not want to call independent experts, he can request the emergency team to come again and involve workers from the Housing Inspectorate, a consumer rights protection society, etc. in the presence.
In a situation where the emergency crew did not come out, the dispatcher did not answer the call, the tenant has the right to independently take measurements, in fact establishing whether the supplier is providing a high-quality or low-quality service. Other persons must be invited to be present when measurements are taken.
If in the future the fact of violation of the terms of the contract for the supply of a resource is confirmed, the beginning of the period for which the fee can be reduced will be a call to the dispatcher, even if he did not answer, and the end will be the elimination of violations and recording this in special documents.
Judicial practice on recalculation of payments for water by meter
Main article: how to recalculate water bills.
Government Decree No. 354 indicates that recalculation can be made only for residential premises that are not equipped with metering devices (IMU) and do not have the equipment, however, such disputes also occur in court. Let's give a few examples.
- The essence of the dispute is this. A citizen living in an apartment building in Moscow filed a claim against the “Cash Settlement Center for Processing Utility Payments.” The fact is that he has a water meter, from which he independently transferred data for calculating payments. But for 2 months, when he was on vacation, no one transmitted the meter data and the housing and communal services began to calculate payments according to standards. The amounts grew, the citizen was refused a recalculation and then he went to court. The court sided with the plaintiff, since according to paragraphs 59 and 60 of Resolution No. 354, if the readings were not submitted, the first 3 months are calculated based on average consumption for the previous period and only after this period there should be a transition to calculation according to standards, that is, in this case, the housing and communal services untimely transferred the person to another payment system.
- Another legal dispute. The situation is the other way around. A housing and communal services consumer from Khabarovsk filed a lawsuit against his housing and communal services demanding a recalculation. He also had a water consumption meter, but he did not transmit readings from it for more than 3 months and therefore the housing and communal services switched to calculations according to standards. In this case, the court sided with the defendant, since everything was according to the law and human rights were not violated. Housing and communal services began to calculate amounts based on the rate of water consumption per person. How many cubic meters of water one person consumes is already established by region.
So, there are certain reasons that can trigger the recalculation procedure and thereby save money. This requires a minimum of documents and time. If you are denied this and it is illegal, then you can always contact the competent authorities to protect your rights and achieve justice.
How to recalculate if hot water does not meet the standard
If water with a temperature below 60°C is supplied to the tap from the hot water supply pipe, the apartment owner has the right to contact the service provider. He is obliged to send a commission to record the violation. In case of refusal, the corresponding act can be drawn up collectively by all people living in the house. This document is attached to the application for recalculation submitted according to the general rules.
The amount by which the cost of the service can be reduced depends on the water temperature established by the commission. You can completely refuse to pay for water heating only if it turns out to be colder than 40°C.
Often hot water does not meet the established temperature standards.
