Many of us have faced utility bills. And each of us sooner or later has questions: how to check the calculation of utility bills? What are the principles of calculation? Where to see? Where to contact with an error? You will find answers to these questions in this article.
Communal payments
Currently, utility bills are mandatory. And the amount to pay for these services is quite large. And it is a pretty serious part of the family budget. Therefore, people carefully check all receipts before payment in order to avoid mistakes and not to pay too much. And they also try to optimize the costs of utility bills and minimize them. To do this, they install individual meters or meters, in other words. They also take care of nature, save water, light and gas. At the same time, not reducing their needs, but rationally spending these resources and understanding that they, like the family budget, are limited.
Due to the fact that the housing and communal services sector is being managed by more and more partnerships, management companies, it is impossible to fully monitor the legality and correctness of their actions. That is why it is important to know how the calculation of utility bills occurs. What to do in case of a mistake made during accrual. In addition, it is important to be able to independently calculate payments and know where you can see the calculation of utility bills and tariffs, as well as the laws that govern the housing sector. You should also understand where to go if you notice a mistake in the calculations. Because mistakes happen, intentional or random. And it is important to understand what to do with these mistakes and how to respond to them. As well as how to legally resolve this issue.
What is related to utilities?
These services include: directly utility bills, as well as the needs of the house (repair, its maintenance). Let's look at this issue in more detail. So, utilities include:
- Payment for gas supplied.
- For electricity.
- For heating (in case it is not individual).
- For cold water.
- For hot water (if available).
- For sewage (sewage).
We dealt with utility bills. And what do the needs of the house include?
- Cleaning of the territory, as well as flights of stairs.
- Household management expenses.
- Elevator service. And also its repair, if necessary.
- Garbage collection and disposal.
- Intercom service charge. Its repair.
- Maintenance and repair of the gas pipeline, pipeline and so on.
- Other needs that are discussed at the meeting of residents.
What does the legislation say about this?
The main document that regulates relations in this area is the RF LC. Namely, articles 156 and 157. They contain the norms that determine the size of housing payments. And also the procedure for paying utility bills, calculation methods are spelled out.
It is important to understand that this payment should be enough to maintain the apartment building in good condition. All tariffs must be clearly stated in accordance with the rules. Unauthorized change is not allowed! In addition to paying utility bills, homeowners must pay for electricity and water consumed by all residents of the house. That is, the total amount is equally divided by all owners.
What other documents determine the procedure for calculating utility bills? Government Decision No. 354 of May 6, 2011. It spells out methods for calculating utility bills, in which cases recalculation is possible. This document also contains rules for calculating utility bills. As well as the order of their change.
Who sets the tariffs?
According to our legislation, the subjects of the Russian Federation are directly responsible for tariff plans. Namely, tariffs are fixed in acts of local authorities. What exactly is prescribed there?
- The amount of the contribution to the capital repair fund.
- Directly the tariffs for utility bills themselves (water, gas, electricity).
- If the apartment is in a social lease, the act prescribes the amount of payment for the lease.
- If the apartment owners have not chosen a way to manage the house, the act prescribes the amount of payment for the current repair and maintenance of the premises.
In addition, the management company makes its contribution to determining the amount of payment for housing. This issue is resolved at a general meeting of residents with the management of the management company.
If tenants need to use additional services not prescribed by law (for example, video cameras, concierge, etc.), this issue should be raised at a meeting and discuss the amount of payment for additional services.
Based on what is the calculation of utility bills?
The main and most important thing is the amount of resources you personally consumed, namely, water, gas, electricity. In addition, the area of the apartment that is in your property is taken into account. As well as the number of people registered on its territory. Based on these parameters, the management company calculates how much you should pay for snow removal, general access electricity, and so on. How does this happen?
If the house uses a common house counter.
It is necessary to determine what part of the total area each apartment occupies. In other words, find the share of each apartment from the total area of the house. After that, you need to calculate how many resources have been spent in just a month. This amount must be multiplied by the tariff and the percentage that this apartment occupies throughout the house. As a result, we get the amount of utilities for the month, which must be taken from each apartment.
If such a counter is missing.
Such a situation is also not uncommon. How to calculate the final payment amount in this case?
In this case, you need to know what norm on the total area of the apartment (in the case of heating calculation), as well as what norm to apply when calculating the total amount of payment for utility bills (electricity, water and gas are taken into account).
Is it profitable to have a meter in the apartment or is it better to pay utility bills according to the norms?
There is no exact answer to this question. It all depends on the situation. If you use a lot of energy, light and gas, then it may be beneficial for you to pay according to the norms. If you live alone or alone, or do not spend a large amount of resources, it is still more profitable to install counters. They will quickly pay for themselves and allow you to save on utility bills in the future.
In addition, legislation also governs this issue. According to Federal Law 261, if you use resources and you have the technical ability to set up meters, you must do so. Otherwise, the norms will constantly increase, and the amount of payment for utility bills will reach the cosmic amount.
Individual counters - a reason to pay less?
So, you have made up your mind. We installed meters in the apartment to pay utility bills not according to general standards, but upon the fact. That is, how much they spent - they paid so much. So is it possible to indicate a smaller amount at the time of testimony, or not? Who can check this and what will it be? Let's figure it out!
First, utilities must check metering devices at least once a year. And your direct responsibility is to give them access to your meters. In addition, there are also unscheduled inspections. And in the event that utilities detect falsification of evidence, you will have to pay off the entire amount of the debt one-time. And also pay a fine. If the management company is involved in falsifying evidence, it faces a fine for charging utility bills.
How to avoid the incorrect calculation of utility bills and what to do?
You need to understand that if you have counters to record your personal readings, you need to submit all the data on time. Otherwise, the management company will calculate on average.
What can provoke improper charging of utility bills?
- Intentional actions of the personnel of the management company.
- Errors in the program.
What to look for when receiving a receipt?
- Check the address is correct.
- The area of the room.
- The number of registered people.
- Billing period.
- Are there any extra items in the receipt.
- Are there any changes in consumption rates, and, accordingly, in the amount of payment. (All changes must be notified in advance so that people have time to prepare).
What to do if you notice a mistake in the calculations?
If you are not properly charged utility bills, do not give in to panic. First of all, you need to contact the management company to find out the reasons for this accrual. If problems arise at this stage, feel free to follow article 10 of the LC RF. And claim your rights!
According to this article, the management company is obliged to provide you with access to information on payment calculations based on the application. You can submit it orally or in writing. It must be considered within 10 days.
What to indicate in the application?
Their data, namely: last name, first name and patronymic. The address where you live. To send a response to this address to this address. The name of the management company must also be indicated. And a request to verify the correctness of the calculation of utility bills.
If after 10 days there is no information about the verification of your application, or if you are not satisfied with the results of the verification, you can go further to the higher-level guide. That is, to the housing inspectorate and to the prosecutor's office.
What to do if they provide low-quality services or they are not provided for some time?
Especially frequent in the summer is a situation when they turn off hot water, and people stay for 3 weeks only with cold water. How are utility bills calculated in this case? Is there any recalculation due to inconvenience? Or does everything remain unchanged?
According to the law, if the services are provided poorly or not in full, there is a reduction in utility bills.
What to do if there was a poor and / or incomplete provision of services, but there was no recalculation? In this case, you need to draw up an act and write an application for allocation in the management company. If no measures are taken, you must contact the higher authorities.
How to check the correctness of the calculation of utility bills
The first thing to do is to look at the receipt. Everything in it is open and painted on points. In it you will see for what and how much you are giving back. Carefully compare the testimonies you submitted with those indicated on the receipt. They must match. This must be done before payment. But sometimes there are situations when payment has already been made. And after that, an error in the calculations was noticed. What to do in this case? Reconcile with the lost amount or return it back?
According to current laws, you must contact the management company. They are required to recalculate and return the amount of the overpayment to you.
If you have doubts about the correctness of tariffs for calculation, you can always find them in the management company, on the website of government bodies. Also now there is an online calculator for calculating utilities for each region. Because the norms in each region are different.
Sanctions for improper charging
So, you are faced with the incorrect calculation of utility bills. Especially if this incorrect accrual was intentional. What in this case threatens the management company? Firstly, a fine for the incorrect calculation of utility bills. As a rule, it is 50% of the amount. As well as increased attention to this management company and constant checks.