“Single receipt”, payment of utility services contrary to the promises of the mayor and long queues during air alarms: the modern reality of Kharkiv

In Kharkiv, they plan to introduce the “Single Receipt” service. This means that instead of four bills (for ZHEK services, garbage removal, water supply and drainage, heating), city residents will receive one. The relevant decision was adopted on June 5 during a meeting of the executive committee of the Kharkiv City Council.

Payments for utility companies “Kharkivvodokanal”, “Zhytlocomservice”, “Complex for the removal of household waste” and “Kharkivski Teplomerezhi” will be collected in one account.

The “Single Receipt” service will work as a clearinghouse for informing residents about various types of housing and communal services.  Previously, the Unified Center on the basis of “Megabank” worked in Kharkiv according to a similar algorithm. The Single Center service has been closed since the beginning of 2022. Then the National Bank recognized “Megabank” as bankrupt and revoked the license of the financial institution.

The city council did not say when Kharkiv residents will start receiving one receipt instead of four. The executive committee only noted that it will take some time to unify the databases of utility enterprises.

We remind you that at the beginning of the war, the mayor of Kharkiv Igor Terekhov expressed his understanding of the situation and promised Kharkiv residents that payments and debts for all communal services from February 24, 2022 and until the end of the war will be written off.

However, people were still forced to pay exorbitant amounts, despite the fact that many of them were left without their homes, no longer living in them, having abandoned them or moved out of town. In addition, the local authorities submit applications to the court against debtors, and appropriate response measures are applied to them. Threatening text messages are now being sent en masse.

Also, at present, people are forced to stand in long queues at utility companies, proving that there is nothing to pay for. At the same time, in the city, during the multi-hour air raid sirens, businesses close, and Kharkiv residents stand in queues all day waiting for the opening, risking being hit by rocket fire.