Duma Lawmaker Proposes Skipping Warnings on Utility Cuts

The State Duma proposed simplifying the disconnection of utility services for debtors in the housing and communal sector.

Consensus

• A Russian lawmaker named Marat Nuriev proposed changing the procedure for disconnecting utilities due to unpaid bills.
• The proposal aims to eliminate the requirement for utility companies to send written warnings and confirm receipt of those warnings.
• The goal is to improve collection of debts for housing and utilities services.
• The current law requires a 20-day written warning and a three-day notice before disconnection, with heating and cold water exempt from disconnection.
• The total debt for housing and utilities services was reported to be 975.9 billion rubles as of April 1.

Points of divergence

• The proposal includes the idea of using the one trillion rubles saved from debt collection to modernize housing and utilities infrastructure. — vm
• The proposal suggests that utility disconnection can be done without any prior warning, and that the risk of non-receipt of notice should be borne by the debtor. — tg_moscowtimes_ru

Coverage (2 sources)

• In the State Duma, it was proposed to simplify the disconnection of utility services for debtors in the housing and communal sector — Вечерняя Москва
• In the State Duma, it was proposed to mass disconnect Russians from utility services without notice due to debts in the trillions of rubles — The Moscow Times

Key entities

• State Duma
• Russia
• Marat Nuriev
• Tatarstan
• ЖКУ