Since the beginning of the war, more than 6.5 million people have left Ukraine, the number of internally displaced persons has exceeded 10 million. All these people were forced to leave their homes, some have nowhere to return, because their houses were destroyed due to hostilities. Therefore, the question of how all these people will be charged for utilities and whether they need to be paid is now very relevant.. Based on the most frequent requests to us, we will consider the main "
Moratorium on penalties.
February 28, 2022 Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine letter No. 2024/02. 0-7. 1 confirmed force majeure circumstances - the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which became the basis for the introduction of martial law from 05:30 on February 24, 2022. This means that war is a force majeure, namely, a force majeure circumstance that exempts a person from liability in case of non-payment or late payment of utility bills..
Government Decree No. 206 dated March 5, 2022, until the termination or cancellation of martial law in Ukraine, it is prohibited to terminate or suspend the provision of housing and communal services to the population in case of non-payment or incomplete payment. It is also prohibited to accrue and collect a penalty (fines, penalties), inflation charges, annual interest in case of late or incomplete payment of housing and communal services by the population. The specified resolution was adopted to protect the interests of people during martial law, and applies to all types of public services. But the moratorium on the accrual of penalties does not mean that you can not pay for utilities provided during martial law, but only gives a person the opportunity not to pay for utilities during martial law without negative consequences. But after the termination or cancellation of martial law, all debts will need to be repaid.
What to do with utility bills for people whose housing is badly damaged or destroyed.
On March 18, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered a draft law “On Amendments to the Final and Transitional Provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Housing and Communal Services” (on exemption from payment for housing and communal services of consumers whose housing was destroyed as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. This bill is supposed to establish that consumers whose residential and / or non-residential premises were completely or partially destroyed as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, payment for housing and communal services, including payment for subscription services, payment for distribution services (delivery. But this bill has not yet been put to a vote and not adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.. In addition, it is not known what the final version of this law will be, since on May 30, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Budget Issues in the budget review indicated that the adoption of this law would have negative consequences for the budget, and proposes its entry into force no earlier than January 1, 2023,.
Therefore, unfortunately, to date, an effective legal mechanism has not been developed that completely exempts the owner of damaged or destroyed housing from payments for actually not received utilities..
At the same time, it should be pointed out that the requirement for the payment of utility bills by the owners of housing that has become uninhabitable due to hostilities does not comply with the principles of justice. Such persons lost virtually everything they had, because in the destroyed houses there were things and other property, most often also lost. In addition, we can say that such a requirement does not comply with the provisions of the Law of Ukraine " But if housing is destroyed, it obviously makes no sense to provide services aimed at ensuring living conditions in it..
Therefore, taking into account the existence of force majeure circumstances, the effect of a moratorium on the accrual of penalties and the possible adoption of a law on exemption from payment of utility bills for persons whose property was damaged, it is advisable to wait for the termination of the martial law regime, find out which utilities were actually provided and.
What to do with utility bills if you do not live in the house.
If the consumer has left the house, but the utilities continue to provide utilities properly and in full, according to the general rules, such services must be paid, since in order to be exempted from paying for housing and communal services, a person must not only not have an appropriate contract, but in fact they.
And yet, the departed person may not pay the cost of utilities (except for the supply of thermal energy) in case of their non-use (in the absence of metering devices) for the period of temporary absence in the residential premises (other real estate object) of any persons for more than 30 calendar days, provided. Therefore, before or immediately after returning home, you need to worry about evidence of the absence of any persons in the living quarters for more than 30 days. Such evidence can be stamps in the passport for those who have traveled abroad, an IDP certificate, testimonies of witnesses and neighbors.. These documents will be needed in case of disputes with utility providers.
What to do if communications at home are destroyed, but bills continue to arrive.
If the communications of the house are destroyed, this means that the utility service cannot be provided or is of poor quality.. In this case, the consumer has the right to demand a reduction in the amount of payment for housing and communal services or exemption from payment.
What to do with utility bills for those who went abroad.
Those who have gone abroad have the opportunity to pay utility bills from abroad. The easiest way to do this is by transferring funds from a hryvnia account opened with a Ukrainian bank.
What mitigations are currently in place in dealing with utility bills.
Issues on exemption from paying utility bills can be resolved by local authorities, depending on the situation.. Thus, the Buchansk City Council decided to exempt residents from paying for housing and communal services by recalculating for the period from February 24 to April 15, 2022 (the period of temporary occupation of. Bucha).
On April 1, 2022, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov stated: “All utilities provided by the city will be written off from February 24 until the end of the war”. Consequently, Kharkiv residents were exempted from paying for services provided by city utilities: hot and cold water supply, heating, garbage collection, maintenance of adjacent territories, maintenance of elevators. But from June 1, 2022, utility bills in Kharkiv will again be charged, so those who left Kharkiv and those who stayed will have to pay utility bills according to payments that will begin to arrive in July.
In conclusion of the analysis of issues related to the payment of utilities under martial law, I consider it necessary to note that now the local authorities still urge consumers who are financially able to pay for the utilities provided to do so.. It is the timely payment of utility bills that can ensure the uninterrupted operation of public utilities, repairs and the elimination of the consequences of shelling..
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