Muscovites will probably pay for heating according to special rules.
To avoid an abrupt increase in payments, the State Duma allowed the metropolitan authorities to distribute heating fees not for 1 year, but immediately for 5 years. What will it give the residents of the city?
It is known that the legislation offers two ways to pay for the heating of apartment buildings. The first assumes that residents pay only during the heating period. 45 subjects of the Federation adhere to this scheme. The second one allows you to distribute payments evenly throughout the year. He was chosen by 20 regions, including Moscow. Here, the volume of thermal energy consumption in the house for the previous year is divided into 12 parts, and it is these indicators that are entered into the payment documents. For this reason, residents of the capital are forced to shell out money for heating even in the summer months.
But the Ministry of Construction noticed that the weather has been very unstable in recent years. Winter can be abnormally warm or too cold, so more or less heat is required.
Last winter, overspending in the Northern Administrative District was estimated at 1.6 million rubles. As a result, residents received notifications about the adjustment of payment for the actual amount of thermal energy consumed in 2021. The figures there were sky-high – officials demanded an additional payment of 20-25 thousand rubles. Muscovites went out to protest, and the riot that had just begun forced the authorities to reverse their decision.
To avoid such excesses, Moscow asked to change the legislation and amend the law “On the Status of the Capital of the Russian Federation” and the Housing Code. Now, as an exception to the rules, the capital can calculate the monthly amount of payment for heat based on data for the last 5 years. This innovation caused considerable controversy among the deputies. Many people thought that in a few years you can hide any numbers you want, and it is possible that in fact Muscovites will pay many times more than they should. “There are fears that this could lead to a deterioration in the current procedure for determining heat charges,” said Deputy Yana Lantratova. But Alexey Yeresko, Deputy head of the Ministry of Construction, insisted that the proposed approach was not a hidden form of tariff increase.
The relevant Commission for ensuring the Housing Rights of Citizens opposed it. Its leader, Galina Khovanskaya, admitted that there really is a problem and not only in Moscow, but the new rules create “complete uncertainty.”
Meanwhile, the amendments were adopted in the first reading. The deputies proposed to finalize the draft for the second reading, taking into account all the comments made, but it probably will not change in principle.
Natalia Vladimirova
Photo: LEGION-MEDIA