Main factors for debt write-off
Debt for utility bills from the population is unpaid amounts accrued by the service provider. For the Utility Service Provider, these are lost funds for the normal functioning of the enterprise and increasing the level of service provision. Each enterprise is interested in the absence of receivables, therefore the grounds for writing off debts on utility bills are developed in Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n “On approval of the Regulations on accounting and financial reporting, paragraph 77[1].
Based on this standard and Chapter 26 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation[2], debit funds arising for the following reasons are subject to write-off:
- The statute of limitations has expired.
- The debtor is officially declared bankrupt.
- The debtor has died or the legal entity has been liquidated.
- In case of impossibility of execution of a court decision by the bailiff service.
The procedure for canceling receivables depends on the listed grounds and has a different algorithm of action on the part of the debtor.
Electricity debt - how is it formed, where can I find out the amount and what will happen if I don’t pay it off?
A large number of Russians have debts to pay utility bills. This includes electricity bills.
The reasons for debt formation may be different, but they can lead to not the most pleasant consequences. Even if you regularly pay invoices without delays, it is recommended to occasionally check for debt.
Even if you don’t pay a few rubles every month without knowing it, it can add up to a substantial amount.
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How do I find out what the amount is and whether there is a penalty?
There are 2 main tools for checking the presence and amount of debt for electricity:
- Account number. Allows you to find out information in several ways, including online.
- Address. The most energy- and time-consuming method, requiring a personal visit.
Offline methods
- Personally visit the settlement center at your place of residence, provide the employee with your personal account number and a document confirming your identity and direct relationship to the property.
- Call your payment center and provide the required identification information and account number.
- You can also check your debt status using an ATM. To do this, you should use the terminals of only large federal banks. In order to see the information of interest on the screen, just select the one you need from the list of utility providers and enter your personal account number. After which all the necessary data will be displayed on the screen.
- In order to check the availability and amount of debt via the Internet, you need to go to the official website of the State Services https://www.gosuslugi.ru and register there, or log into an existing account.
- In the search bar, enter the query “Housing and communal services” and go from the search results to the “Payment for housing and communal services” section, then click the “Get service” button.
- From the proposed options, select your electricity supplier and click on the appropriate window.
- In the line that appears below, enter your personal account number and click the “Next” button.
- All account information will be displayed on the screen.
Residents of Moscow can use the debt status check by personal account number using one of the Yandex services located at https://money.yandex.ru/shop/6983?from=itrcd.
You should carefully enter or name your personal account information in order not to make a mistake, and you should also not use third-party and unknown services for verification and enter your data there.
In order to obtain information about the debt using the address of the property, you should personally contact the management company, housing office or settlement center to provide an extract on the status of the service user’s personal account.
You won’t be able to find out about your debt online using just the address. In this case, only a personal appeal will help.
How is debt for light in an apartment formed?
Debt can arise for many reasons, but the main ones come down to this:
- Intentional evasion of payment of payment receipts, regardless of the reasons.
- Human and technical errors during payment. For example, an incorrect account number was entered or some failure occurred during the banking transaction.
- Incorrect meter readings. Mistakes are often made when transcribing meter readings, so it is important to double-check the numbers before transmitting them. There is also no need to deliberately underestimate the readings; in any case, everything will become clear.
- Incorrect calculation on the receipt. Not everyone double-checks the invoices that arrive monthly in their payment invoices and pays immediately. Do not neglect this, mistakes can have a bad impact in the future.
In the absence of timely payment of bills, debt begins to form, which consists of:
- Principal amount (cost of electricity services).
- Peni.
- If there are long delays and the case is brought to court, legal costs will be incurred.
The longer the delay continues, the higher the amount due. Not only due to basic payments, but also constant accrual of penalties.
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After the debt becomes overdue, the citizen has 30 days to make payment without charging a penalty .
The accrual of the fine begins from the 31st day of debt occurrence and until the 90th day of delay is 1/300 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
If after 90 days the electricity bills have still not been paid, the penalty increases and amounts to 1/130 of the refinancing rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
The amount and procedure for calculating penalties are regulated by Art. 3 of the Federal Law of November 3, 2015 No. 307-FZ “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation in connection with strengthening the payment discipline of consumers of energy resources.”
When a debt to pay for electricity arises, the debtor will initially receive notifications and claims from the service provider. From the 31st day, penalties will begin to accumulate in the amounts specified by law.
If residents do not solve the problem with their debt for a long time, the supply company will have no choice but to sue the defaulter (read about what kind of debt and when the lights are turned off, read this material). In this case, the tenant receives a summons to appear in court.
Typically, the court orders the debtor to pay the company. If voluntary payment according to the court decision is not received, the case is transferred to bailiffs, who can:
- Seize all available accounts and write off funds from them in the amount of the debt.
- Send the writ of execution to the employer.
- Describe the property.
If the debt is long-term and a considerable amount has already accumulated, you should wait for the trial and try to agree to pay the debt in installments without submitting a writ of execution to the bailiffs.
In accordance with clause 118 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 06.05.
2011 No. 354 “On the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings”, the electricity supplier has the right to disconnect the consumer of services after two months of non-payment of the debt.
Read here about whether they have the right to turn off electricity for non-payment without a court decision, and about the rules and procedure for turning off electricity for non-payment here. Find out about how to turn off electricity for debts and how to find a way out in this material.
How to write off your electricity debt?
Complete debt write-off is possible in the following cases:
- The death of the debtor.
- Declaring the debtor bankrupt.
- The statute of limitations has expired.
According to Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation dated November 30, 1994 No. 51-FZ, the statute of limitations during which an electricity service provider can apply to collect a debt in court is three years.
After the expiration of the statute of limitations, the company has the right to file a statement regarding the debt in court, and the court, accordingly, must accept it. Proceedings are dismissed only if the defendant himself has declared the occurrence of the SID, otherwise the debt will be awarded.
Electricity is the same service for which a person must pay. If you ignore payment, not the best consequences may follow, which can be avoided by paying off the debt on time. Debt does not always arise due to malicious non-payment, so do not forget to periodically check the status of your personal account.
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Source: https://pravovoi.center/zpp/nekachestvennyj-uslugi-zhkh/problemy-s-elektrichestvom/otklyuchenie-eletroenergii/otklyuchenie-elektroenergii-za-neuplatu/kak-uznat-zadolzhennost.html
Writing off debts for which the statute of limitations has expired
Debts presented in court proceedings that are older than 3 years or more are subject to write-off. During the trial, the debtor may claim that the housing organization has missed the deadline for the claim and the court will take the debtor’s side. It is important to know that the court does not make such decisions on its own; the debtor must apply for this during the trial.
At the same time, there should be no letters of debt or guarantee between the utility companies and the tenant, agreements for the restructuring of receivables and payments of any amount for the disputed period. Any amount paid is confirmation of recognition of the disputed amounts. Therefore, when paying for utility needs, you must indicate the month for which the payment is being made.
Sample statement of claim for forgiveness of debt on utility bills
The debt for electricity for an apartment in which I do not live was written off
Accounts receivable are written off as non-operating expenses (or at the expense of the reserve made) if such debt is recognized as a doomed debt (clause 2, clause 2, article 265 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). With all this, hopeless debts (debts that are mystical for collection) are debts for which the established statute of limitations has expired, as well as those debts for which, in accordance with civil law, the obligation has been terminated due to the impossibility of its fulfillment, on the basis of an act of a municipal body or the liquidation of an organization ( P.
Cancellation of debts in bankruptcy
The amendments made to Federal Law No. 127 “On Insolvency”[3], which came into force in 2015, provided the opportunity for persons declared bankrupt to be exempt from paying debts.
An important condition for applying write-off in connection with bankruptcy is the presence of a total debt of at least 500 thousand rubles with a period of non-fulfillment of financial obligations of more than 3 months. The amount of utility bills is included in the total debt.
The procedure for recognizing bankruptcy occurs through litigation and by a court decision the debtor is released from paying debit funds. Accrued payments at the enterprise are written off based on the court decision.
Mechanism for writing off debt if it is impossible to enforce a court decision
After a court decision is made to collect the debt from the tenant, the enforcement service begins work, which compulsorily collects the funds won by the utilities. A special case in compulsory enforcement is the impossibility of carrying out enforcement actions.
The reason for making a decision on impossible execution is the debtor’s lack of any funds, personal property, or source of income on which a monetary penalty can be applied. The only place of residence, disability payments and benefits for minor children are not subject to exaction measures.
A decision by the Federal Executive Service on the impossibility of collecting funds is the basis for utility organizations to write off the debt.
Paying debts when making a purchase with debts
Based on the Housing Code of the Russian Federation[4], the consumer’s obligation to pay for utility services begins from the moment he receives ownership of the apartment. All debts that are listed before this date are paid by the former owner, unless, when purchasing an apartment, the contract stipulates that all existing debts are assumed by the new owner of the property on a voluntary basis.
Housing and communal services providers can recover debit amounts remaining with the previous owners through the court through a standard procedure; automatic write-off of such amounts is not provided for by law.
The result in the matter of canceling accrued amounts depends on the correctness of filling out the documents and the legal study of the issue.
Cancel debt due to poor quality service
Debts to resource-supplying organizations and management companies will be written off if it can be proven that the homeowner was provided with a poor-quality service. Let's consider a communal apartment:
- insufficient water pressure (from 0.3 to 6 atmospheres for cold and from 0.3 to 4.5 atmospheres for hot water supply);
- the hot water temperature goes beyond 60–75 °C, which does not comply with SanPin 2.1.4.2496-09;
- the air temperature in residential premises is below +18 °C, for corner rooms - below +20 °C.
To recalculate payments to the Criminal Code, the owner of the apartment will have to prove that he actually received a poor-quality service. And for this, in each case you will have to call representatives of the management company to draw up a report. Contact a lawyer if housing and communal services are provided with poor quality, but are charged in full - in court it will be possible to claim not only debt write-off, but also moral damages and, in fact, the costs of a lawyer.
