Consequences of non-payment of utilities and description of the procedure for turning off electricity for debts

Legislative regulation on power outages

Shutting off electricity for non-payment, including partial restrictions, is regulated by the following regulations:

1. The Civil Code of Russia contains information regulating the powers of the parties and contractual agreements in the field of energy, including with resource supplying organizations. In Art. No. 1064 states that when damage to property is caused by illegal disconnection or connection of light, 100% compensation for damage is required.
2. The Housing Code of the Russian Federation indicates parameters that evaluate the quality of services provided in the field of housing and communal services.
3. Federal Law No. 35, adopted on March 26, 03, establishes the basic terms about the energy supplier. In addition, it contains instructions on the principles of activity in this area.
4. PP No. 442 dated May 4, 12 approved the rules for the functioning of retail trade in electricity. In addition, it includes limits, full and/or partial restrictions on supply, indicating the grounds and procedure.
5. Government Decree No. 354 of May 6, 2011 contains a set of criteria for the provision of public services to owners of premises located in apartment buildings. The regulations indicate the quality, procedure for making payments and recalculation:
   clauses 122, 124-127 specify points that must be taken into account when power supply is interrupted;
6. Ch. 11 informs about the mechanism for turning off the lights or limiting the supply of resources in cases of debt formation. Additionally, the document specifies the need to send a notice, including deadlines;
7. Appendix No. 1 to this PP notifies citizens, RSO, management companies and other organizations about the standards and permissible breaks.

Note: if the management company has suspended the supply of electricity to an owner with an outstanding debt without notice, this is a violation of procedure.
The perpetrators are prosecuted under Art. No. 330 of the Criminal Code of Russia on the fact of arbitrariness. Such an act implies sanctions of up to 80 thousand rubles. or involvement in forced labor. Watch the video: “The lights turned off, what to do.”

Is it possible to connect electricity with debt?

To connect electricity after paying the debt receipt. Connecting electricity after disconnection for non-payment On Thursday, the hopeless situation alarmed me, I started calling AlmatyEnergoSbyt, but I only managed to get through on Friday morning - apparently, the line was so overloaded. At the other end of the line, I was told that to connect, I need to come to district office No. 6, bring the receipts already paid for electricity, write a corresponding application and pay 2,400 tenge for the connection.

As a result of the above actions carried out by electricians or controllers, you and your apartment are disconnected from the electricity supply. As a rule, electricity is disconnected in this way, i.e. Connecting electricity after disconnection for non-payment. Incomplete payment by the consumer of a utility service is understood as the presence of a consumer in arrears to pay for 1 utility service in an amount exceeding the sum of 3 monthly fees for a utility service, calculated based on the consumption standard utility service, regardless of the presence or absence of an individual or common (apartment) metering device and the tariff for the corresponding type of utility resource, valid on the day the provision of the utility service is limited. 119. In what case can electricity be turned off? If the consumer violates his obligations.

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Grounds for disconnecting electricity for non-payment

According to the Housing Code of Russia (Article No. 153), individuals and organizations have the obligation to promptly make payments for services from the RSO or public utilities. Payment must be sent in full and within the specified period (Part No. 1).

Part No. 2 lists the categories of citizens who are required to replenish the balance of their personal account for housing and communal services:

• owners of apartments and private houses;
• landlords or consumers under a social tenancy contract;
• tenants of municipal and government premises;
• members of HOA, TSN, etc.;
• legal entities renting for temporary use a building that is on the balance sheet of local authorities;
• construction organizations until the transfer of the area to the end user.

Part No. 3 of this article regulates municipalities and government agencies to pay utility costs until the apartment is rented out by residents.

The timely receipt of contributions to the accounts of the RSO is recorded in Art. No. 155 Residential Complex of Russia – period until the 10th of the next month. In some situations, it is possible to change the date if such a condition is specified in the agreement with the resource supplying organization or management company.

Turning off the lights for debt

If the power was turned off, the consumer should have been notified in advance about this process.

As a rule, the reasons for supply restrictions in the electricity supply are:

• the decision made is based on the debt incurred;
• the amount of arrears in payments is equal to or exceeds two months;
• if the formed debt is calculated according to the general standard without providing readings from individual instruments;
• The electrical network is undergoing maintenance or repairs.

The premises are disconnected from the network ten days after the owner receives the notice.

Electricity shutdown due to incorrect meter readings

Situations often arise in which owners turn to lawyers with the question of whether they have the right to turn off the lights for non-payment if incorrect meter readings were submitted.

In such cases, experts recommend taking information from the devices and visiting Energosbyt. If the error was in the form of underestimated parameters, then nothing terrible will happen - you need to send the real values ​​later. The PSO software selects the information that was last supplied, and the value does not matter here.

The situation is more complicated with inflated characteristics. For example, a citizen made a mistake by indicating the capacity of the device and reported electricity consumption that was several times higher than the true one. However, such an oversight can be corrected.

In order to avoid a power outage, you should visit the energy sales department and write a statement about the need to accept other information for the calculation, outlining the circumstances that have arisen. Photographs of the individual shield may serve as support for the application.

The amount of debt at which power can be cut off

Resource supply organizations and the management company can turn off the electricity if a certain debt arises due to non-receipt of payment for energy. However, in each region the amount of debt differs, since the tariffs and contractual terms are different.

However, a common indicator for a unilateral lawful blackout is a delay in the receipt of contributions of more than 90 days. However, to de-energize an apartment building or separate living space, compliance with the established procedure is required. It is noteworthy that for the RSO and the management company it does not matter why the non-payment occurred.

General procedure for disconnecting electricity for non-payment

Please note: replenishing a personal account in the form of an advance is a voluntary action of the owner. Experts note that such measures make it possible not to accumulate debt to pay for electricity.

In what cases will the light supply be limited?

According to the general regulations of the electricity supplier, the lights can be turned off only with prior warning about the measures being taken against the defaulter.

At the legislative level, only five situations are established in which you can turn off an electrical resource without notice:

• in the event of an emergency or a threat to it;
• natural disasters;
• unauthorized connection to the power grid;
• the use of household devices and mechanisms by the consumer, the power of which is significantly higher than the permissible voltage in the network;
• forced restrictions on energy use based on instructions from the supervisory agency.

Only during such situations is it permissible to carry out measures to turn off the light in an apartment or private household without notice (PP No. 354, item No. 115).

Is it possible to connect electricity if the debt is not paid in full?

What to do if the power is turned off in your apartment - tips No. 713 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). If the shutdown did not occur for technical reasons, it is necessary to find out the legality and validity of this shutdown. Disconnection due to the presence of arrears for electricity is possible only subject to written warning to the subscriber no later than a month before the disconnection (clause 1, clause 35 of the Rules), in connection with which you can contact the electricity supplier to determine the existence of arrears and notify about the disconnection .Connecting electricity after disconnection for non-payment I do not recommend connecting yourself.

Also, when you find that there is no electricity, you will probably ask yourself the question: “who should I call?” in case of non-repayment (non-payment) of the resulting debt for payment for electric energy within the period specified in the notification; b) if a citizen-consumer has a debt to pay for electricity for 3 billing periods, the supplier of last resort (energy sales organization) sends him a notification about the complete restriction of the consumption regime in the event of non-payment of the resulting debt before the expiration of the next payment period, indicating the day starting from 0 o'clock of which the citizen - the consumer must implement a complete restriction of the consumption mode.

Illegal power outage

All activities carried out by the management organization must have a legal basis. Situations related to providing owners of residential premises with decent conditions are under state control.

However, situations often arise in which the legality of the actions of the management company is in question. As a rule, this concerns turning off the lights. The owner of the apartment must receive compelling reasons from the housing office to terminate access to public services. The decision on the legality of the measures taken is made by the supervisory authority - the State Housing Inspectorate, the prosecutor's office.

Additionally, the property owner can file a claim with the court if the rights of one resident or apartment building have been violated. The agency is authorized to recognize the order of the Criminal Code as illegitimate.

If malicious evasion of existing laws and order is detected, the company will face penalties.

Do they have the right to turn off electricity during the heating season?

Electricity can be turned off for non-payment of rent in an apartment in winter on similar grounds as in other cases. The procedure involves supplying energy before the limit on the personal account balance is exhausted. If after three months the debt is still not repaid, the supply of light is stopped in full.

PP No. 354 states that resource supply organizations and utilities have the right to limit the provision of electricity to the debtor without going to court.

The supplier is obliged to take the following measures:

• act in accordance with the letter of the law;
• send notice of an upcoming power outage.

Therefore, without a ruling from a higher authority, such a procedure is legal, but without notifying the owner of the apartment, it is not. If the RSO or Criminal Code regulations are ignored, the owner of the premises may file claims with the court and other supervisory agencies.

The right to turn off the light without the owner

Written official notice of the planned power outage is sent personally to the owner of the apartment or private house. The deed must be signed by the owner. The resident is given a certain period to repay the debt for the electricity consumed. In this case, both partial payment and full payment are allowed. Duration – no more than 30 calendar days.

Repeated notification is sent in a similar manner. If time expires and the balance is not replenished, the debtor is obliged to pay the debt within three days. The power supply is cut off at the end of the period.

Please note: turning off the lights is allowed during the heating season if the procedure was legitimate.

Where to complain about illegal blackouts

Measures to stop or limit the supply of electricity are carried out on the basis of legitimate reasons. As a rule, they apply only to those persons who do not pay for a long time, i.e., malicious debtors. However, such procedures are often used by management companies as pressure on owners, which is an unauthorized action.

In the Russian Federation, there has already been a practice of limiting resource supply in the form of electricity for debts on gas or heating. But even in this case, there is a violation of the current legislation - in such situations, the management company must complain to the court about the defaulter.

If an illegal loss of power is detected, the consumer can file a claim with the Criminal Code. In the absence of feedback or when the power supply has not been restored, the owner has the right to file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office or Rospotrebnadzor.

In the first case, the application must be a request to conduct an inspection of a specific management company, in the second - a complaint about a violation of consumer rights. One copy of the document is sent to the Criminal Code.

Supplier's liability for illegal shutdowns

The liability of the sales organization and the management company under current legislation can arise in two scenarios:

1. Imposition of administrative punishment. In this case, Art. No. 7.23 Code of Administrative Offenses, indicating the norms of relations between the supplier and the owner of the premises. Persons holding positions are sentenced to pay a sanction in the amount of 500 to 1000 rubles. The organization will be subject to a fine of 5-10 thousand rubles.
2. Consequences in the form of criminal liability under articles No. 215.1, 330. Based on the first provision, violators face serving a sentence of up to 2 years. The second document imposes an obligation to pay compensation up to 80,000 rubles, imprisonment for up to 6 months.

If, along with a power outage, a citizen suffered significant damage, then imprisonment can last up to five years.

Lawsuit for illegal shutdown of power supply

To turn on the lights again in a house that has been de-energized illegally, you must contact the supervisory authorities. If there is no action on the part of the State Property Committee, it is necessary to resolve the issue through the court.

In addition to the application, the owner will need:

• attach a photo or video about the inspection of residential/non-residential real estate;
• bringing in at least two witnesses to testify.

If the RSO has limited the supply of electricity without notice and without legitimate reasons, the owner of the apartment can hold the organization liable under Art. No. 14.31 Code of Administrative Offences. This reference is due to the abuse of the position of a monopolist in the market in the housing and communal services sector.

In this case, reconnection of the light will be carried out at the expense of the resource supply company, not counting the imposition of penalties.

A free sample statement of claim is available for download here.

Is it possible to connect electricity yourself after paying the debt of PetroElektrosbyt?

The grounds on which a supplier can stop supplying energy to citizens of the Russian Federation are specified in Resolution No. 442. Sanctions in the form of partial restrictions are introduced if the consumer has arrears for 2 billing periods. After the partial restriction comes into force, the citizen has 10 days to repay the debt.

Why am I not receiving bills? In connection with the entry into force of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 of 05/06/11, establishing the rules for the provision of utilities, a phased transition to a new procedure for payments for electricity with household consumers is carried out - for bills, the amount payable in which is calculated on the basis of meter readings recorded by consumers and reported to Petroelectrosbyt JSC. However, the residents of your apartment are not currently included in the specified project. Payments for electricity should be made independently - for the amount of energy actually accepted in accordance with its metering data at current tariffs.

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Procedure for turning off electricity for non-payment

The legality of turning off electricity for non-payment is established in the relevant regulations. The procedure is regulated by PP No. 354.

Actions of the authority before turning off the lights, warning

Grounds and actions of the management company and RSO:

• the amount of debt for electricity exceeds the amount of mandatory payment for 2 months;
• the owner received a notice of the need to repay the debt for electricity, and he was given 20 days to comply;
• After the specified time, another letter was sent.

After three days, the resource supplying organization has the right to suspend the supply of light. Termination of power supply is carried out by an electrician by sealing individual metering devices.

Lights off procedure

The legislation of Russia clearly defines the regulations for the procedure for turning off the lights. First of all, the electricity supplier must have a fact of debt or a citizen has unlawfully decided to connect to the network.

After this, the owner is notified and given more than two weeks to repay the debt. The notice is sent to the owner no more than 2 times. If the apartment owner avoids meeting with representatives of the management company or RSO when they come to the house, the supplier has the right to use the services of the Russian Post.

After the specified time, the apartment is de-energized and a seal is installed on the meter. Based on the results of the activities carried out, an official act is drawn up.

Act on disconnecting electricity for non-payment

The form of the act is not approved at the legislative level, but there are general rules for office work in relation to the information specified in this paper:

• the location of the apartment or private house to be turned off;
• last name, first name, patronymic of the owner of the residential premises living at a specific address;
• hours and date of power outage;
• justification of the activities carried out;
• identifier of an individual electricity meter that has been sealed;
• the latest information taken from the device;
• period of resource supply interruption.

Documents are endorsed by all participants in the process:

• the company specialist who carried out the sealing and switching off the lights;
• defaulter - if he is absent, then signature is allowed by any person registered at this address.

Certification of the act with the company's wet stamp is not required. The paper is produced in triplicate. In the case where the defaulter has claims or objections to the procedure performed, you can put notes.

Reconnecting electricity

Violations of the rules for operating electrical networks are discovered at the request of residents of neighboring apartments or during raids. Residents can conduct a short test themselves. To do this, you need to turn off all power sources several times a day and monitor the devices. If everything is turned off and the meter continues to intensively accumulate kilowatts, it means that someone has connected to your device. Write a statement to the management company or electricity supplier. Experienced specialists will quickly figure out who connected to you and how he did it. If violations of the law are detected, a report is drawn up and submitted to law enforcement agencies. The district inspector checks this act and draws up an inspection report. These documents are submitted to the court. The hearing of the case is scheduled within two weeks.

If you cannot pay the required amount in full, contact your electricity supplier to apply for an installment plan. According to Decree 442, at the time of a power outage, the service provider must draw up a “Power Outage Report”. You will be given a receipt for payment or you will write an application to repay the debt in installments. How to independently connect the light in an apartment if it was turned off for non-payment? Also, without proper training and appropriate qualifications, you can take your life with an electric shock or, at best, seriously injure yourself.

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What to do if the power supply is turned off

The light was turned off for non-payment - what to do, how to turn it on? The first thing that is required from the debtor is to repay the debt. If the problem cannot be resolved quickly due to a difficult financial situation, then the owner has the right to request an installment plan. Valid circumstances include supporting small children, caring for a disabled person, prolonged illness, or dismissal from work.

The deferred payment period cannot exceed 6 months. In this case, the supplier must turn on the lights within two working days. The application can be drawn up with the resource supply organization or management company. The procedure for reconnecting electricity causes the formation of a similar act as during a blackout.

Power outage after calling Energosbyt

In May 2006, the government issued Resolution No. 307 (lost in force due to the publication of PP 354), which states that Energosbyt has the right to turn off the lights only if a debt of 2-3 months is generated - the procedure is carried out after several warnings.

An additional reason is unauthorized connection to the electrical network - in this situation no prior notification is required.

In all other cases, such actions are of an emergency nature or there is an illegal loss of power to the premises. If the company does not comply with legal provisions and the owner has not received notice of the need to pay the debt, then he has the right to petition the court for compensation for the damage suffered.

In the Criminal Code of Russia, such events are qualified as a criminal act of independent regulation of issues. Therefore, there must be compensation for damage to property that resulted in a power outage.

Fines for unauthorized connection to electricity

The use of unauthorized methods for connecting light will result in fines. In such situations, it is better to turn to your neighbors for help and use their meter to work with the extension cord. This will allow you to connect low-power devices and lighting. In private property or SNT, the problem is solved by purchasing a generator.

What to do if the apartment is cut off

Until 2020, Article No. 7.19 of the Code of Administrative Offenses was in force regarding self-connection of electricity. However, due to the increasing cases of illegal use of networks, the State Duma decided to tighten penalties for such violations.

So, Art. has been updated. No. 158 of the Criminal Code of Russia, which equated the theft of electricity (on an especially large scale) with the theft of oil resources and gas. This made it possible to reduce losses of organizations working in the energy sector. In addition to financial compensation, the violator faces imprisonment for up to 6 years.

In 2020, the following sanctions apply for illegal connection of light:

• citizens – 10-15 thousand rubles;
• organizations and persons holding positions - up to 200,000 rubles.

It is noteworthy that living in an apartment of a minor citizen does not become a restriction on blackout of housing. But if the established procedure of the Criminal Code or RSO is violated, resulting in harm to the child, moral or physical damage can be compensated.

The supplier or the one who issued the instruction is subject to a fine:

• for individuals - 1500-2000 rubles;
• organizations - 30,000-40,000 rubles.

Procedure for connecting the light after disconnection

To reconnect the light after it has been turned off, you will need to pay off the debt. The second scenario is to request payment in installments. The algorithm for connecting to the electrical network is similar to de-energizing.

But until the problem is solved, experts do not recommend that the owner take the following measures:

1. Unauthorized connection to the light. In addition to the fact that such actions are life-threatening, after some time the RSO will discover the reason for the resource arrears and will bring the violator to administrative and/or criminal liability.
2. Connect to the neighbor's jumper. In panel MKDs, the electrical wiring was done so that the meters were located opposite, forming free space. When conducting a routine inspection of the premises, such an act may result in the imposition of penalties.
3. Independently remove the seal from individual electricity metering devices. Otherwise, after repaying the debt, the RSO or management company may incriminate unauthorized consumption of the resource. In addition to the debt, it will be necessary to pay off the fee for kilowatts calculated according to the standard. Additionally, a penalty may be applied.

Procedure

To return light to the house, the owner is required to:

1. Visit the management organization with a request for an installment plan for the debt. The legislation indicates that refusal in this case is unacceptable. Such actions allow you to avoid penalties, but the step is not mandatory.
2. Collect the necessary money and pay off the debt to the RSO.
3. Contact the management company with an application to connect electricity - have your passport and debt repayment receipts with you.
4. Pay a fee for the service to reconnect the light. The price should be clarified in housing and communal services.
5. Agree on the date of the event.
6. At the end of the procedure, sign a certificate of restoration of power supply.

Despite the simplicity of the steps, experts recommend not to delay paying utility bills. This will avoid unnecessary bureaucratic red tape, additional costs, and the risk of being left without electricity for some time.