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Legal basis for disconnection

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The conditions and procedure for payment for the total area of ​​housing and the use of utilities are regulated by the Housing and Civil Codes of the Russian Federation.

Article 540 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that any person who, under the terms of an energy supply agreement, uses electricity for domestic purposes is a subscriber.

The legislation establishes norms regarding the required line of payment for utilities (Articles 678 and 682 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Article 154 of the Housing Code reveals the concept of “utility service”, as well as those responsible for maintaining the building territory and performing repair work.

The list of utilities that must be paid includes payment for cold and hot water, electricity, and heating.

Attention! Payment for services is made monthly until the 10th.

According to Article 157 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, it is stipulated that payment for utilities is made in accordance with meter readings based on the volume of resource used by the subscriber (consumer) (electricity, energy resource, electricity, etc.).

If there is no meter, the calculation is made according to the established tariffs and consumption standards per resident.

In case of systematic failure to pay for utility services, an authorized person files a claim for forced collection. Direct debt collection is carried out on the basis of a court decision.

In accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (Article 98), the state duty is subsequently reimbursed from the defendant.

In addition, the debtor is prohibited from traveling beyond the borders of the Russian Federation.

Turning off the lights in the apartment

Electricity consumers who fail to pay for the service provided on time are warned of a power outage in a separate act.

Termination by the supplier company of the contract for the supply of utilities (electricity) is carried out in the following cases:

• non-payment for energy supply services for more than 2 months. If there is a debt for 1 month, it transfers to the next month, and there is no liability for this;
• connection to the power supply network without an authorized permit (arbitrary connection);
• change in significant circumstances in the contract that regulates the provision of utility services;
• disconnecting the house from the network due to scheduled and emergency technical repairs. Residents must be notified of planned repairs 24 hours before they are carried out, and their duration should not exceed 24 hours. According to housing and communal services standards, power supply can be turned off no more than three times during the year. More frequent switching off of lights by the company providing the service is a violation of the law;
• existence of a court decision to terminate the contract for the supply of electricity;
• failure to provide authorized persons with the opportunity to inspect and repair the electricity meter, which is a supplier service provided for in the contract.

Important! The most common reason for stopping the supply of electricity to a home is failure to pay for the service on time. It should be noted that the amount of debt in this case is not taken into account; it can be 2 thousand or more. In accordance with the provisions of regulatory legal acts, the contract is considered terminated if payment for electricity has not been received for 2 or more months. Residents receive notification of the upcoming shutdown.

To protect their rights and avoid illegal disconnection from the power supply network, citizens should learn the legal provisions on the basis of which their home can be disconnected from the network.

Bilateral relations between users of utility services (residents) and companies that provide the corresponding services are regulated by Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 of May 6, 2011 and No. 442 of June 4, 2012.

Does the management company or HOA have the right to turn off the lights?

Since contracts for energy supply to households are concluded through intermediaries, which are the management company and TSK, housing office, their powers include limiting the supply of electricity. Such actions can only be implemented in practice if they are agreed upon by the parties to the agreement. Also, disconnection from the network is legally possible if there is a court decision with the involvement of a bailiff.

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Power outage procedure

To find out the details regarding turning off electricity without a court decision, you should thoroughly study the features of such a process. Initially, a notice is sent to the debtor. This is one of the important features, since electricity is an indispensable resource for providing residents with normal living conditions.

In urban areas, human life becomes almost impossible without light. Cutting off the supply of electricity will also have a negative impact on business activities with further economic losses.

Before disconnecting an apartment with outstanding bills, it is mandatory to check whether there is a person living in the apartment whose life depends on medical equipment connected to the power grid.

The legislation provides that a notification in the form of a warning is sent to the debtor if payment has not been received into the account of the management company for more than two months. As practice shows, it takes longer lines to send a warning message.

Notification structure

Please note! The information content of the notice of interruption of power supply consists of:

• basic data of the individual debtor: his last name, first name, patronymic, home address, personal account;
• the line behind which the debt has accumulated and its amount;
• the date by which the service provider recommends repayment of the debt;
• liability that awaits the debtor in case of violation of the terms of the supply agreement: termination of the supply of electricity or restriction in its use.

ATTENTION! View a completed sample of a power outage notice:

If, after timely notification of the owner of the home with the resulting debt for electricity, no payment is made, the HOA or management company will involve a responsible employee of the energy supply company.

At the specified time (the exact time and date is specified), the responsible person stops the supply of electricity to the apartment (the electricity meter is disconnected from the network).

To prevent unauthorized connection to the network, a seal is attached to the meter.

Watch the video. Turning off the lights for non-payment:

Power outage act

Government Decree No. 442 regulates the procedure for disconnecting housing from electricity; the disconnection is mandatory recorded in the “Electricity Disconnection Act”, which states:

• information about the consumer who incurred the debt and the company providing the services;
• reasons and duration of restrictions on the use of electricity;
• what kind of debt was incurred and the terms of its repayment;
• when and at what time the shutdown occurs;
• type of restriction: complete - the supply of electricity stops completely, partial - reduction in the supply;
• meter number and current readings;
• what was done to prevent a power outage;
• circumstances that made shutdown impossible (one of these is the risk of an emergency).

During the writing of the document, the responsible persons of the management company or a member of the HOA and the debtor himself must be present. The act is signed by both parties and drawn up in triplicate; there should be no errors.

It will be legal to disconnect a household from utilities through debt only if the disconnection procedure and rules are not violated.

ATTENTION! View the completed sample power outage report:

Which cases of turning off the lights of the Criminal Code are also illegal

A violation of the procedure for turning off electricity, other than not sending a notification, is turning off the network in an apartment or house where minors live - under 18 years of age.

In this case, it is necessary to prove a causal link between the interruption of electricity supply and damage to health or the occurrence of inappropriate living conditions (families with newborns and children under three years of age are more vulnerable).

Cases of disconnection from the electrical network of housing where pensioners or disabled people live with a life-sustaining device, which resulted in a deterioration in their health, are recognized as not complying with legal norms, and therefore illegal.

If there is a court decision, the management company is obliged to notify the subscriber at least two hours before the employees responsible for the disconnection arrive. If company employees, which unfortunately happens often, entered a home without permission and turned off the supply of a resource, they can go to court to protect their legal rights by filing a complaint.

The process of cutting off the supply of electricity contains many features. The persons responsible for the power outage must show their official documents, introduce themselves, provide copies of the acts, one of which must be given to the debtor. According to statistics, 30% of residents’ complaints about the arrival of unknown persons who turned off their lights have legal grounds.