Expert Sklyanchuk: “We cannot be sure that we are not also paying for our neighbor.”
Less than two months are left until the planned increase in tariffs for housing and communal services. Traditionally, this unpleasant event for the population occurs from the middle of the calendar year — July 1. This time, tariffs will increase by an average of 9.8%. This is higher than official inflation, which is currently around 7.8% on an annual basis. However, the authorities remind that they have not indexed housing and communal services tariffs for a year and a half. What can we expect from the next increase in prices for communal services, which is just around the corner?
As you know, last year the government “froze” the growth of housing and communal services tariffs, for a whole year and a half we lived without being afraid of “chain letters” from management companies. After all, the last time tariffs were indexed was back in December 2022 – then by 9%. But now you have to pay the bills. What will they be like?
Over the past 1.5 years, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. The President proposed to abolish bank commissions for paying utility bills for some preferential categories of citizens from July 1, in order to somehow ease the utility burden for people. And housing and communal services payments themselves may now no longer arrive in our mailboxes at all — everything will be in electronic form…
But let's return to the upcoming indexation of tariffs. In Russia it will average from 4 to 15%, the gap between regions is very significant, almost 4 times. The largest increase is expected in the Trans-Baikal Territory — 15%, and the smallest (4%) — in the Republic of Khakassia. In Moscow, the average index will be 11%, in the Moscow region 10.7%, in St. Petersburg 9.8%.
The maximum indexation, as a rule, is equal to annual inflation and is set for each region by the government of the Russian Federation. The current increase in the cost of services is higher than inflation in 2023 (7.5%), but this is an “addition” for last year, when a moratorium was announced on tariff increases.
The value of the maximum deviation from indexation is set by regional authorities on proposals from municipalities. It should not be confused with tariff indexation itself. Let's explain with an example. In Tatarstan, the average indexation this year will be 10.8%. And the maximum deviation is 4.9%. This means that in any given area, local authorities can increase the tariff to 15.7%. For example, due to a large-scale replacement of utility equipment. However, on average for the republic, the increase should not exceed 10.8%.
According to government plans, in 2025 the increase in housing and communal services tariffs will be by 5.7%, and in 2026 – by 4%. That is, indexation in 2024 is the highest, and then it will be easier. Although, based on the example of this year, we know that government forecasts are not always accurate.
Expert of the project “People's Front. Analytics” Pavel Sklyanchuk explains that there will be no gradual increase in tariffs. If, as before, it happened twice a year (from January 1, and then from July 1), then the increase in utility bills would not seem so sharp. “If you rewind, until 2012, housing and communal services tariffs increased twice a year. However, this made Russians nervous, and the government switched to one-time indexation,” he says. — Although this accelerates inflation. After all, there are more than 100 million consumers of utility services in the country, and a one-time increase in payments affects inflation.”
— There are 6 types: hot and cold water, electricity and gas supply, solid waste removal and drainage.
— Limit indices apply to all 6 types of services. Within the established limits, the region has the right to redistribute cash receipts, to give more to some resource-supplying organizations, and less to others. But in total this should not exceed the established ones.
We have not always had such a system in place. If you remember, the subjects themselves set the tariffs and they immediately increased by 20-30%. There are no such precedents now.
As for management companies, any change in the cost of their services must be agreed upon by a general meeting of residents. Many management companies “on the sly” increase prices, but this is prohibited. In such cases, tenants must contact the housing inspectorate or the prosecutor's office. They will be recalculated and the money will be returned.
We have two types of services — utilities and housing. According to the first, the government limits the growth of tariffs. And the management companies that manage the houses and their maintenance work under an agreement with the residents. It stipulates an increase in rates for the maintenance of common property at the rate of inflation.
— In my opinion, we need to move towards dividing tariffs into two parts: social for low-income citizens, and economically justified for everyone else.
— Agree, this is not the case, that the same tariffs are paid today by a grandmother living in a one-room Khrushchev apartment and the owner of a luxury apartment. It is necessary to redistribute the financial burden. Resource supply organizations do not have enough funds to renew fixed assets. Network wear accumulates like a snowball. The entire industry is suffering.
Judge for yourself. 1000 liters of tap water supplied to homes costs service payers less than a 5-liter container in a store. And today this is exactly what is happening. There is no talk of any economics here. Hence the low degree of water purification, hence the communal collapses. Let's remember the heat outage in Podolsk and Klimovsk last winter, in the coldest weather.
— It is necessary to carry out calculations. This is a new format of relations between citizens and public utilities. However, so far there is no such readiness to revise the “rules of the game” in our society.
— There are regions in the country where they pay an average of 10-12 thousand rubles a month for utilities. As a rule, these are distant subjects of the Federation, where the climate is harsh and wages are higher than in the capital region. In Moscow, the average fee is 5-7 thousand rubles, which means that from July 1 it will increase by 500-700 rubles.
— The Federal Antimonopoly Service is in charge of utility tariffs. She coordinates tariff plans by region. And the difference is primarily related to the state of the energy system. In those areas where there are no investment programs that also affect the total payments of citizens, the burden on the tariff is less. And vice versa. Deterioration of utility networks, remoteness of settlements — all this affects the payment of utility services.
The maximum deviation from indexation takes into account investment programs that are being carried out in the region to update utility networks for water and heat supply, when additional financial support is required population.
— Russia has an extensive program of benefits and subsidies. There are about 4 million such beneficiaries in the country. A 50 percent discount is provided for certain types of services. Or if utility bills exceed 22% of the family’s total income, the state returns what was paid in excess of this figure.
A citizen can and should pay a fifth of housing and communal services from his own pocket. 85% of Russians are home owners and use utilities and are required to pay for them.
— The debt for housing and communal services is about 100 billion rubles. And it’s difficult to figure out the structure — which of them can still be repaid, and which need to be written off, because three years have passed and the statute of limitations has expired.
Here I would like to say that the state has a rather passive and liberal attitude towards defaulters. The supply of utility resources suffers as a result. Penalties are accrued only after 90 days of delay. Utility debts are prohibited from being transferred to collection agencies. According to the law recently adopted by the State Duma, even municipalities cannot contact them.
The collection mechanism remains judicial. In order for a housing and communal services debt to be recognized as such, the management company must file a lawsuit and receive a court order. After which she can involve bailiffs… In general, the story is not simple.
Although from the point of view of social justice it is difficult to explain such a gentle approach to defaulters. Why do pensioners pay for housing and communal services first of all, while owners of luxury apartments consider this optional? In the store, they pay for their purchases at the checkout, but not for the resources they consume.
— Willful defaulters hide behind socially vulnerable segments of the population. The introduction of tougher sanctions against high-income debtors may also affect those who objectively have problems paying for utilities.
— Why? For example, you can provide a flexible system of discounts for conscientious payers. For them today there are no bonuses for the fact that they pay accurately, and sometimes even advance future payments. So a carrot and stick policy can be applied. Let's say, introduce a cashback system for law-abiding payers.
— As a rule, management companies manage several apartment buildings. In one, payment collection may be high, and in another, low. In this part, management companies, within the framework of received funds, can briefly transfer payments from one house to another. Although this is prohibited by the housing code.
-. A direct rule of prohibition exists only between houses. And between residents, when there is a cash gap, this practice also occurs. It concerns expenses for general household needs. Let’s say there are 100 apartments in a building, in a certain month 95 of them paid rent, and five residents decided to “save.” Now, the management company can “distribute” this lost amount among 95 apartments. However, it is very difficult to prove such an action. This is a gray area. In general, we cannot be completely sure that we are not also paying for our neighbor.