Utility providers may be required to explain every amount in bills to avoid "mysterious" charges

A draft law has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada to amend certain legislative acts of Ukraine regulating relations in the fields of housing and communal services, pricing, and the activities of authorities authorized to set prices (tariffs) for housing and communal services.

The authors of the document note that one of the most pressing problems is the insufficient level of openness and transparency in tariff formation for services. In most cases, the consumer practically has no opportunity to receive complete, clear, and detailed information about the economic justification of prices, the structure of its components, and all elements that form the final cost of the respective housing and communal service.

Moreover, there is another related problem in this area – a significant number of cases of non-transparent charging for housing and communal services and calculation of consumer debts, which are indicated in bills (payment documents) in a form incomprehensible to people.

For example, without clear indication of billing periods, and in cases where a different charging mechanism is applied than the billing period – without providing the consumer with an accessible explanation of the mechanism of charging and debt calculation.

This leads to the fact that people are effectively deprived of the opportunity to properly verify the correctness of the charged amounts.

In turn, the practice of legal disputes in the housing and communal services sector also indicates numerous cases of restriction or termination by providers of housing and communal services to consumers due to the presence of debts of other consumers, the absence of contractual relations between the provider and other consumers, or other unjustified reasons.

"The use by providers of communal services of their monopoly position in a certain territory to pressure consumers on various issues has unfortunately become a common phenomenon in the provision of housing and communal services," the initiators of the document note.

What is proposed to change

One of the key innovations of draft law 15435 is the introduction of a "tariff declaration", a document containing detailed information about the formation of the cost of housing and communal services.

It is envisaged that the tariff declaration:

• will be compiled and approved simultaneously with the establishment or change of the tariff;
• will contain the economic justification of the service cost and a detailed structure of expenses;
• must be publicly accessible to consumers, including for previous periods.

It is also proposed to introduce the use of a QR code in bills, which will allow quick access to the tariff declaration and verification of the data on which the amount to be paid is based.

Separately, the draft law stipulates that information about tariff components cannot be restricted in access, except in cases directly provided by law.

The document also provides for improving the requirements for housing and communal service bills.

In particular, the payment document must separately indicate:

• the amount charged for each billing period;
• the amount of debt for each period (if any).

If a mechanism other than the standard billing period is used to calculate the payment, the consumer must be provided with an accessible explanation regarding the procedure for forming the payment and the occurrence of debt.

The document also aims to establish additional guarantees for the uninterrupted provision of housing and communal services and to prevent violations of consumer rights due to circumstances beyond their control.

For providers of housing and communal services and managers of apartment buildings, responsibility will be increased for the accuracy of calculations, the correct determination of service costs, and compliance with legislative requirements during the formation and application of prices (tariffs).

The document also provides that in case of incorrect calculation of the payment for services indicated in the issued bill, the provider will be obliged to compensate the consumer for all damages caused and additionally pay a fine equal to the difference between the incorrectly calculated payment for the provided services and the actual cost of such services (but not more than ten times the actual cost of services for the respective period).

Prohibition of unjustified service termination

Providers of housing and communal services will be prohibited from restricting or terminating the provision of services to consumers residing in the territories of 4 regions where active hostilities or temporarily occupied territories by the Russian Federation are located.

The authors note that this provision is intended to support residents of these regions and prevent artificial deterioration of their living conditions in circumstances that are already difficult due to the proximity of hostilities and other consequences of the war.

Exceptions remain cases of temporary restrictions due to technical reasons.

Recall that "Kyivvodokanal" submitted calculations of a new tariff to the city authorities, which provided for the cost of water supply and sewage services at 88.90 UAH per cubic meter.

Later, the Kyiv City State Administration stated that they do not plan to introduce a tariff for centralized water supply and sewage services of almost 90 UAH per cubic meter.

As noted by the Kyiv City State Administration, the city did not approve such a tariff.

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