Penza, 25 February 2016. PenzaNews. TV journalists of the Russian Channel One have filmed on increased communal bills for Penza region citizens living in apartment buildings after the introduction of the two-component hot water bill.
According to the report, representatives of 11 housing cooperatives “refused to pay the increased tariffs, and now owe hundreds of rubles.”
“The hot water supplier divided its costs into two parts – water and heating – and offered the citizens to pay for them separately. The law states that one cubic meter of supplied hot water may not cost more than 120 rubles, but some people in Penza will be paying 150 rubles, or even as much as 300,” noted the Channel One journalist Ksenia Nazarova.
The deputy head of the Penza city administration Yuri Ilyin commented on the situation.
“If we would calculate these two components into cubic meters of hot water, the cost of a single cubic meter of hot water for each separate housing cooperative or housing and construction cooperative would exceed 120 rubles. We will be working with each case individually. Because currently, at this very moment, we must understand the reasons behind this difference, this spike,” said the vice mayor.
According to the report, several regions have transitioned to this hot water supply billing system that separates water and heating costs, but no issues of this kind occurred elsewhere.
The billing for higher sums compared to previous months is currently investigated, said Inna Levchenko, acting head of the Penza region Goszhilstroytekhinspektsiya.
“Heating as a communal service does not exist. There is ‘Hot Water Supply.’ The check will result in the recalculation of the money paid over 120.50 rubles per cubic meter,” she explained.
