The war in Ukraine brought large-scale changes to all aspects of citizens’ lives, and one of these areas is communal services. Payments for electricity, water and heat for many Ukrainians have become not only a financial burden, but also a reflection of how hostilities directly affect the economy and the well-being of the population. Damaged infrastructure, interruptions in the supply of resources, mass evacuations of the population and the destruction of the housing stock led to drastic changes in the system of providing and paying for communal services.
In times of war, citizens often find themselves unable to pay their bills on time due to financial hardship or loss of housing, while some service companies find themselves on the brink of survival. How does legislation respond to these challenges? Is it possible to reduce utility bills in connection with military operations and the fact that no one actually lives in the apartment or house? Lawyers of the “Repeshko and Partners” Bar Association comment on these issues.
These questions are extremely painful for all Ukrainians! That week, our attention was drawn to an ad that was posted on a bulletin board near the door of one of the entrances. Based on the information that was written in black and white, the house owed a total of more than 1.6 million hryvnias to the heat networks for heating and hot water. Since we are talking about a house in the city of Kharkiv, the first thought was, who will pay the utility bills when a significant number of the residents of the house left at the beginning of hostilities? However, communication with the residents of the house gave a very disappointing picture – even in those houses where the majority of residents continue to live, the latter do not pay for communal services in principle, expecting that the state will amnesty debts due to military actions.
We note that in accordance with Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Housing and Communal Services”, the consumer has the right to: non-payment of the cost of communal services (except for the supply of thermal energy) in the event of their non-use (in the absence of metering devices) during the period of temporary absence from the residential premises (other objects of immovable property) of the consumer and other persons for more than 30 calendar days, subject to documentary confirmation in accordance with the terms of contracts for the provision of communal services.
The specified norm of the article is not an innovation, it was in effect even in peacetime, and as we can see, several conditions are required for its application:
- lack of utility metering devices;
- absence of the consumer in the residential premises for more than 30 calendar days;
- availability of supporting documents about the absence of the consumer in the residential premises at the specified time.
Unfortunately, this norm does not apply to the most expensive utility service, the bills for which always exceed the wildest expectations in a negative sense – the supply of thermal energy, or simply put – heating.
A controversial issue here is also regarding the rent, especially when it comes to the association of co-owners. Even in the same Kharkov, the decision of what to do by the KP “Zhilkomservice” in this situation has not yet been decided, since regardless of whether the owner lives in the apartment or not, but the roof of the house is being repaired, cockroaches and bedbugs are eaten, in case of arrival and breaking of windows window contours are closed free of charge for the owner and even in his absence not only in the city, but also in the country.
It is necessary to pay attention to one more nuance of the specified norm – the conditions prescribed in the contracts for the provision of communal services. Of course, it is unlikely that a person who ran from his hometown under fire, pulling a child by the hand and holding a cat in the other hand, took with him the contracts concluded with communal services. Therefore, we advise you to visit the official website of the relevant utility service in your city. Usually, the utility company posts a sample service contract on its website. Get to know him. Perhaps some tips on how to act in this non-standard situation can be found in the contract itself.
As for supporting documents, they can be:
- certificate of an internally displaced person;
- a certificate of residence abroad and being there on the records of the relevant services;
- documents confirming the fact of working in another city or country (business trip order, employment contract, etc.);
- certificates of treatment in another place or country;
- a certificate of service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- certificate of study in another city or country;
- other documents that confirm your absence from the place of residence/registration.
As for apartments with metering devices. These are usually gas, hot, cold water and electricity. In the presence of metering devices, payment for the consumed service is made according to the same metering devices. The main thing to do in this case is not to forget to transmit the readings of the metering devices. Since the readings in case of absence will be unchanged, there is nothing to pay accordingly. Usually, readings are taken on the website of the relevant utility service, or through controllers using messengers. Check with the neighbors whether there is a connection with the controllers of the relevant utility services in order to directly transmit meter readings.
Regarding those utility services that do not have meters, for each such utility service it is necessary to provide:
- a copy of the passport (if the passport is in the form of an ID card, it is better to additionally add a copy of the extract from the register of the territorial community about registration);
- a copy of the identification code;
- a copy of the document establishing the right to the residential premises (purchase agreement, inheritance certificate, gift agreement, etc.) in the event that no one is registered in it, and you are the owner;
- copies of documents that confirm absence in the residential premises (see the list above). If several people are registered in the residential premises, such a document must be provided for each person.
- a corresponding statement about the absence from the residential premises for more than 30 days from the owner of the residential premises or the person in whose name a personal account has been opened or with whom a contract has been concluded by the relevant utility service.
We cannot say that this list is exhaustive, because some cities or individual communal services have their own procedures and requirements for a package of documents. So, for example, in “Vodokanal” to settle the issue of cold water, they require a certificate from Oblenergo about electricity consumption.
The next question is how best to transfer the specified package of documents to the appropriate utility service? The first thing that comes to mind, which is easier and faster, is by e-mail. But, unfortunately, with this type of shipment in the hands of the consumer, there is no evidence that any documents were somehow not sent, or were received by the relevant enterprise so unambiguously. Of course, there is no alternative to e-mail if the consumer is abroad. But in the case of such a possibility, the only recommendation on how to send the documents correctly is by Ukrposhta with a registered letter with a description and a return message in paper form. In this case, in any disputed situation, the consumer will have evidence not only of what was sent, but also of the fact that the specified shipment was clearly received and when. Better yet, the documents will be sent by e-mail and regular mail at the same time.
In the case when a person purchased an apartment or house and did not have time to reissue a personal account, or did not want to do so or did not have a desire to enter into contracts with companies that provide communal services and now believes that in the absence of a contract with a communal service, he has no and obligations to pay for communal services are categorically not rights. According to Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Housing and Communal Services”, the consumer is obliged to conclude contracts for the provision of housing and communal services. Thus, according to part 5 of Article 13, the refusal of the consumer (another person who, in accordance with the contract or the law, concludes such a contract in the interests of the consumer) from concluding a contract with a utility service provider does not release him from the obligation to pay for the actually consumed utility service provided by such a provider “. Therefore, such a person is still charged for payment by communal services, that is, everything that was mentioned earlier fully applies to such citizens.
In general, this applies to all consumers – the absence of a contract for the provision of housing and communal services is not a reason to exempt the consumer from paying utility bills in full.
Thus, in order to avoid debts for communal services or to reduce the amount of payments for communal services, citizens need to follow the following steps:
- submit a statement to each utility service about the absence of the consumer and other persons for more than 30 calendar days in the residential premises;
- to regularly transmit meter readings every month, even though no one really uses the service and this month’s meter readings will be the same as in the previous month;
- regularly check information about the existence of debt, meter readings and other information through a personal account on the website of the relevant enterprise. By receiving prompt, fresh information, there is an opportunity to correct it in case of any misunderstandings.
It is a fairly common practice when the owner of the apartment is abroad, he gave the meter readings once, maybe twice, and calmed down. In this case, every month the controllers, if they did not have access to the meter, or for some other reason did not take the readings, and the owner did not transfer the readings, calculate the average rate of consumption in the given area. And here we have a situation where the owner believes that he owes nothing to anyone, and the debt for electricity for three months at 200 kW/h has already been calculated for 600.
Another important point regarding the realities of today’s life under martial law. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine by resolution of March 5, 2022 “Some issues of payment for housing and communal services during martial law” prohibited:
- to charge and collect penalties (fines, penalties), inflation charges, annual interest charged on debts incurred due to untimely and/or incomplete payment by the population for housing and communal services;
- terminate/stop the provision of housing and communal services to the population in case of non-payment or incomplete payment.
This applies exclusively to territorial communities located in the territories where hostilities are taking place (territories of possible hostilities, active hostilities, active hostilities in which state electronic information resources operate) or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, according to the list approved by the order Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories. This list is currently approved by Order No. 309 of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine dated December 22, 2022.
Such a ban will be in effect until the date of termination of the possibility of hostilities, end of hostilities, end of temporary occupation.
Another painful issue is the housing that is located in the occupied territories and has meters, but the housing is used by the military of the Russian Federation. At the moment, there is still no clear answer as to what to do in such a situation. It is more likely that the owners will have to go through a court process in order to prove the fact that at the time when the meter rolled up huge numbers, those who were registered in the house or apartment were not there, because they were in another city in Ukraine or abroad. This is how the company providing communal services will be able to write off the debt that arose through no fault of the consumer – on the basis of a court decision. Although we believe that it is absolutely necessary to report absence in the apartment according to the described procedure. Even in such a case, when the matter goes to court, it will be one of the main proofs that the service was not used by residents of the house, outsiders from among the invaders, and the consumer warned the relevant company about it. After all, for the enterprise – the service provider, in such a case, the main thing is that there is a meter, it is sealed, the readings on it have increased, and therefore the consumer must pay for the consumption.
So, as of now, there is no specific special regulatory act that would regulate the issue of paying for communal services. Time will tell whether any additional legislation will be adopted in the future. But the main recommendation is not to wait, but to act now!
