The procedure for receiving a recalculation in case of temporary absence

The conditions for recalculation in case of temporary absence are set out in RF PP No. 354

The obligation to pay for housing and utilities arises from the moment of registration of ownership of the premises or its share (clause 5, part 2, article 153 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation). Payments for utility services are calculated according to the readings of installed metering devices, and if they are not available, based on resource consumption standards approved by the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Part 1 of Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

The procedure for recalculating fees for utility services in the event of a consumer’s temporary absence from the premises is defined in Section. VIII RF PP No. 354. If individual metering devices are installed in the premises, then during the absence of residents, the payment for housing and communal services is not recalculated. Resource consumption is recorded by the IPU readings.

If the apartment is not equipped with meters, then if consumers do not stay in it for more than five full days, the owner has the right to contact the utility contractor for a recalculation of the fee (clause 86 of RF PP No. 354). In this case, an important condition is the absence of the technical possibility of installing an IPU in the apartment, confirmed by the relevant inspection report.

Recalculation is done within five working days after receiving an application from the consumer and documents confirming the period of temporary absence. Such an application must be submitted before departure or no later than 30 days after the end of the period of non-residence. The application must be accompanied by a copy of the inspection report on the impossibility of installing the IPU (clauses 91, 92 of the RF PP No. 354).

Such an inspection is carried out in accordance with the order of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2011 No. 627. If the impossibility of installing meters is not confirmed or the IPU is out of order, the recalculation of fees for the corresponding CU in the temporary absence of residents is not carried out (clause 86 of the RF PP No. 354) .

Recalculation of utility bills
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Recalculation for gas

The legislation of the Russian Federation provides that the payer may demand changes in payments for utility services in accordance with established rules. You can recalculate gas costs if there is no meter in the room on the following grounds:

1. Change in the number of registered residents.
2. Temporary absence of a registered occupant.

If the tenant was absent for more than five days, he has the right to pay only for those days when he was actually in the apartment. Excludes full calendar days when the tenant is absent, not counting the days of arrival and departure.

The supplier is obliged to make a recalculation later than five days after the tenant submits a written application. If the payer applies for a recalculation for gas before the start of the period of absence, the supplier makes a recalculation for the period of time designated by the applicant. This period of time cannot exceed six calendar months. When the consumer is absent for more than six months, then he should declare in writing an extension of the period of temporary absence.

It is important to note! If the consumer applies for recalculation after returning, this must be done no later than 30 days from the date of arrival. In this case, the gas supplier makes a recalculation taking into account the payments previously made by the tenant for the recalculation period.

The owner considered the conditions for recalculation to be contrary to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation

The owner of a share in an apartment in an apartment building did not agree with the approach to recalculating the payment for utilities during absence, set out in RF PP No. 354. Utility meters are not installed in the residential premises, since all apartment owners could not agree on this. Payments are calculated based on consumption standards.

Since the owner of the share has not lived in the premises for almost a year, he contacted the management organization with a request to recalculate the payment for utilities due to temporary absence. The management office refused to recalculate the owner, citing clause 86 of the RF PP No. 354: the applicant did not have a certificate confirming the impossibility of installing an IPU in the apartment.

The owner considered that the list of grounds for recalculation in case of temporary absence, given in RF PP No. 354, was incomplete, and appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a request to declare partially invalid clause 86, the first paragraph of clause 91, the second paragraph of clause 92 of RF PP No. 354 .

The plaintiff considered Parts 1.3 of Art. 1 of the RF Housing Code the following requirements of RF PP No. 354:

• recalculation of fees in case of temporary absence is done only in the absence of the technical ability to install the IPU;
• the deadline for filing an application for recalculation in case of temporary absence is limited to 30 days after the end of the period of absence;
• The application for recalculation must be accompanied by an inspection report to determine whether it is possible to establish an IPU.

The plaintiff argued that these paragraphs of the RF PP No. 354 violate his rights and establish the principles of consumer inequality, which is contrary to Art. 1 Residential Complex of the Russian Federation. After all, only consumers with a report on the impossibility of installing an IPU have the right to receive a recalculation of fees for utility services during a period of temporary absence.

When can you restrict utilities?
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Question answer

In accordance with clause 86. Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) in case of temporary, that is, more than 5 full calendar days in a row, In the absence of a consumer in a residential premises that is not equipped with an individual or common (apartment) metering device, the amount of payment for the utility service provided to the consumer in such residential premises is recalculated, with the exception of the utility service for heating and gas supply for the purpose of heating residential premises.

Based on clauses 91-92 of the Rules, the recalculation of the amount of payment for utility services is carried out by the contractor within 5 working days after receiving a written application from the consumer for recalculation of the amount of payment for utility services (hereinafter referred to as the application for recalculation), submitted before the start of the period of temporary absence of the consumer or no later than 30 days after the end of the period of temporary absence of the consumer.

If an application for recalculation is submitted before the beginning of the period of temporary absence of the consumer, the recalculation of the amount of payment for utility services is carried out by the contractor for the period of temporary absence of the consumer specified in the application, but not more than 6 months. If after 6 months, for which the contractor recalculated the amount of payment for utility services, the period of temporary absence of the consumer continues and the consumer filed an application for recalculation for subsequent billing periods in connection with the extension of the period of temporary absence, then the recalculation of the amount of payment for utility services is carried out by the contractor for the period specified in the application to extend the period of temporary absence of the consumer, but not more than 6 months following the period for which the contractor recalculated the amount of payment for utility services.

If a consumer who submitted an application for recalculation before the start of the period of temporary absence did not submit documents confirming the duration of his absence, or the submitted documents do not confirm the temporary absence of the consumer during all or part of the period specified in the application for recalculation, the executor charges utility bills for the period of unconfirmed absence in full in accordance with these Rules and has the right to apply the consequences of untimely and (or) incomplete payment of utility bills provided for in Part 14 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.

If an application for recalculation is submitted within 30 days after the end of the period of temporary absence of the consumer, the contractor recalculates the amount of payment for utilities for the period of temporary absence, confirmed by the submitted documents, taking into account the payments previously accrued by the contractor to the consumer for the period of recalculation.

The application for recalculation shall indicate the last name, first name and patronymic of each temporarily absent consumer, the day of the beginning and end of the period of his temporary absence from the residential premises.

In accordance with clause 93 “i”, as a document confirming the duration of the period of temporary absence of the consumer at the place of permanent residence, a certificate confirming the period of temporary stay of the citizen at the location of the dacha, gardening, and vegetable gardening partnership is attached to the application for recalculation.

In accordance with paragraph 57 of 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 dated July 21, 2008. No. 549, the provider of public services has the right to verify the authenticity of certificates issued by the governing bodies of horticultural, dacha, and vegetable gardening partnerships, the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in them.

Due to the fact that certificates issued by the management bodies of horticultural, dacha, and vegetable gardening partnerships establish legal facts that are the basis for the emergence of the right to recalculate fees for utility services, these certificates must contain information that clearly indicates the fact and period of the citizen’s stay on their territories. At the same time, it must be possible for the utility service provider to verify the facts that take place.

In this regard, the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia recommends that the management bodies of horticultural, dacha, and vegetable gardening partnerships organize the maintenance of accounting documents (magazines, accounting books, other registers), in which the date of arrival and date of departure of citizens should be noted.

Leaders of gardening, dacha, and gardening partnerships and citizens are responsible for the issuance and use of deliberately forged documents in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Conditions for recalculation for periods of absence contribute to energy saving

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, having analyzed the specified points of the RF PP No. 354 and the plaintiff’s arguments, did not agree with him. In the decision, the judge emphasized that non-use of the premises by the owner is not grounds for non-payment of payments for housing and communal services (Part 11 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not find confirmation of the plaintiff’s arguments that the condition for providing a certificate on the impossibility of installing a meter contradicts the principles of equality and creates advantages for some consumers over others (Part 1 of Article 1 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

This condition, on the contrary, contributes to the fulfillment of the requirements of the Federal Law of November 23, 2009 No. 261-FZ “On energy saving and increasing energy efficiency.” This Federal Law established that consumed energy resources are subject to accounting using IPU (Article 13 No. 261-FZ).

Confirmation of the impossibility of installing an IPU is aimed at ensuring that consumers switch to paying for utility services based on meter readings. This promotes efficient and effective use of resources. Therefore, the owner, if technically possible, has not installed meters, cannot refer to their absence in order not to pay for housing and communal services.

The court also did not take into account the plaintiff’s argument that meters were not installed due to a lack of agreement between the owners of shares in the apartment. Vp. 1 tbsp. 247 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation prescribes a procedure for resolving disputes between owners of shared property. The use of shared property occurs by agreement of the share owners, and if agreement cannot be reached, through the courts.

Therefore, failure to install an IPU due to disagreements between participants in shared ownership cannot serve as a basis for recalculating fees during the period of temporary absence of the consumer from the occupied premises. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation rejected the plaintiff's claim, confirming the legality of the management organization's refusal to recalculate.

Temporary and absent users
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The procedure for receiving a recalculation in case of temporary absence

According to Part VIII of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354 “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”, in the event of a temporary, that is, more than 5 full calendar days in a row, absence of a consumer in a residential premises, equipped with an individual or common (apartment) metering device, a recalculation of fees for certain types of utility services, including gas supply, is provided for the period of temporary absence of consumers in the occupied residential premises, with the exception of the supply of gas for heating purposes.

The recalculation of the amount of payment for utility services is carried out by the contractor within 5 working days after receiving a written application submitted before the start of the period of temporary absence of the consumer or no later than 30 days after the end of the period of temporary absence.

If an application (application template) for recalculation is submitted before the start of the period of temporary absence of the consumer, the recalculation of the gas payment amount is carried out by the contractor for the period of temporary absence of the consumer specified in the application, but not more than 6 months.

If a consumer who submitted an application for recalculation before the start of the period of temporary absence did not submit documents confirming the duration of his absence, or the submitted documents do not confirm the temporary absence of the consumer during all or part of the period specified in the application for recalculation, the executor charges for gas in full amount for the period of unconfirmed absence in accordance with these Rules and has the right to apply the provisions provided for in Part 14 of Art. 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, consequences of untimely and (or) incomplete payment of utility bills.

If an application for recalculation is submitted within 30 days after the end of the period of temporary absence of the consumer, the contractor recalculates the amount of payment for utilities for the period of temporary absence, confirmed by the submitted documents, taking into account the payments previously accrued by the contractor to the consumer for the period of recalculation.

Documents confirming the consumer’s temporary absence may be:

a) a copy of the travel certificate or a copy of the decision to send on a business trip or a certificate of a business trip with copies of travel tickets attached;

b) a certificate confirming that you are undergoing treatment in an inpatient medical institution or at a sanatorium-resort treatment;

c) travel tickets issued in the name of the consumer or their certified copies. If travel documents are issued electronically, the contractor is presented with a printout of them on paper (plane boarding pass, other documents);

d) invoices for accommodation in a hotel, hostel or other place of temporary stay or their certified copies;

e) a document from the body carrying out temporary registration of a citizen at the place of his temporary stay in cases established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, or a certified copy thereof;

f) a certificate from the organization providing private security of the residential premises in which the consumer was temporarily absent;

g) a certificate confirming the period of temporary stay of a citizen at the location of an educational institution, orphanage, boarding school, special educational and other children's institution with 24-hour stay;

h) a certificate from the consular office or diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation in the host country confirming the citizen’s temporary stay outside the Russian Federation, or a certified copy of the document.

i) a certificate confirming the period of temporary stay of the citizen at the location of the dacha, gardening, and vegetable gardening partnership;

j) other documents that, in the consumer’s opinion, confirm the fact and duration of the consumer’s temporary absence from the residential premises.

Please note that the subscriber department of LLC Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Volgograd, along with the application for recalculation of gas fees due to temporary absence, must provide originals or duly certified copies of documents confirming the temporary absence. Proper certification means certification of copies of documents by the person who issued them, or notarization.

Providing the gas supplier only with electronic copies of documents (via telecommunication channels) for recalculating gas fees cannot serve as a basis for recalculating gas fees due to temporary absence from the residential premises. The gas supplier is also given the right to verify the authenticity of documents, the completeness and reliability of the information contained in them.

Information about subscriber departments (points) serving the population of Volgograd and the Volgograd region:

* The maximum size of a letter with attachments is 20MB

The management authority is obliged to make a recalculation if the consumer complies with the norms of RF PP No. 354

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation confirmed the legality of the application by management organizations and HOAs of clause 86 of the RF PP No. 354 if a consumer applied to them with a request to make a recalculation for the period of his absence.

The presence of an apartment inspection report, which confirms the impossibility of installing metering devices, still remains a key condition for making a recalculation for the time the applicant does not live in the apartment.

It is important for the applicant to comply with the terms of submission of documents: before departure or within 30 days after returning to the apartment (clause 91 of the RF PP No. 354). The legality of this provision was also confirmed by the RF Armed Forces.

If the requirements of Section VIII of RF PP No. 354 are met, then the management authority or HOA does not have the right to refuse the consumer a recalculation, which must be done within five working days from the date of submission of the application.