The State Duma assured that by the end of the year, the bill already adopted in the first reading will be considered, which will completely cancel the verification of meters. Metering devices will be transferred to the balance of water utilities, freeing consumers from responsibility for their operation.
When in 2011 it was decided to oblige Russians to install hot and cold water meters, it was assumed that the citizens themselves should win. It is no secret that the water consumption standards always include excessive costs, so it is more profitable for owners to pay for the water actually spent. But in the end, people have to spend time and money on checking and sealing metering devices. In addition, the owners had to notify the management companies on time about the verification, otherwise the calculation took place not according to the actual water consumption, but according to the average indicators. This means that the accrued amount increased significantly. As a result, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation even decided that the owner should no longer provide written confirmation of the verification to the Criminal Code. This is done in electronic format: the data is entered into a special database, and there is no need to require confirmations from the owners. But this verdict did not solve the problem as a whole.
A lot of unscrupulous companies that impose replacement of serviceable appliances on the owners have become a headache for the municipal authorities. Lawsuits in the courts, where the owners demanded to cancel the activities of scammers, number in the hundreds. Not so long ago, a whole network of such scams was uncovered in Perm. They “worked” with pensioners who used to trust official-looking papers. “The scammers went around the apartments, posing as a metrological service, tore off seals, changed meters and only then announced the cost of their actions. The amounts for the replacement of devices reached up to 16 thousand rubles,” said Alina Yeghiazaryan, head of the legal support service of the Municipal Unitary Enterprise Vodokanal.
Water meters sold in Russia last 10-12 years, as you can see by looking at the manufacturer’s instructions. The same service life for metering devices is regulated by GOST standards. Many people do not understand: if the meter is declared by the manufacturer as working properly for 12 years, then why check it every 4-6 years? Otherwise, the meter will be considered defective, which may lead to an increase in the cost of consuming cold and hot water. Who benefits from this? Commercial organizations accredited by water utilities that provide such paid services.
“Verification has now become a formality, thanks to which the service life of the device is simply extended, but no one looks at its actual technical condition. The question is who, in principle, should be responsible for keeping records of resource consumption – residents or a specialized organization,” said Alexey Makrushin, General Director of the Housing and Communal Services and Urban Environment Association.
What are today’s innovations? Water meters will be transferred to the balance of water utilities – by analogy with how it is done with electricity meters. In this case, the verification of the meter’s serviceability will be carried out in a simplified manner, and the consumer will not have to take the initiative himself to carry out this event. The utility organization will also pay for meter verification, not the consumer.
“Perhaps the management company will conclude a contract with a specialized organization for all apartments, and already within the framework of this agreement, verification measures will be carried out without additional treatment by the owner,” explained Valery Ryazansky, head of the State Duma Committee on Social Policy.
Owners will no longer be required to install metering devices at all. “They will simply include in the payment a certain amount for the implementation of accounting, which will be conducted by a specialized organization,” Makrushin explained. In addition, after the adoption of the law abolishing “verification slavery”, the responsibility for the operation of the meter without verification in the form of payment for water consumed in excess of the consumed volume will cease to operate. The municipal organizations themselves will monitor the timing of verification and make such verification. Tens of millions of Russian citizens dream of this law being passed as soon as possible.
Natalia Vladimirova.
Photo: Adobe Stock
English 
Russian 
German 
Polish