They want to extend electronic payments for housing and communal services to the whole of Russia

It is planned to introduce electronic payments for housing and communal services throughout Russia. This request was addressed to the Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services Irek Fayzulin by State Duma Deputy First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Anton Tkachev.

"The issue of digitalization of payments for housing and communal services is of high public importance and directly affects the interests of millions of citizens," the document says, which is available to Izvestia.

Despite the fact that the legislation of the Russian Federation provides for the possibility of using electronic documents when interacting with resource supply and management organizations (in particular, the provisions of Part 1 of Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, as well as Part 8 of Article 6 of Federal Law No. 63-FZ dated 04/06/2011 "On Electronic Signatures"), in practice, mandatory sending out paper receipts, even in the case of a complete consumer transition to electronic document management.

The document also notes that payment documents are available electronically in GIS housing and communal services, as well as on the Gosuslugi platform and in mobile applications of banks and management companies.

Citizens with a verified account use these services, effectively duplicating paper documents delivered to mailboxes. This situation creates additional costs for utility service providers, does not contribute to reducing administrative costs and runs counter to the objectives of the transition to paperless technologies outlined in Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 12/30/2022 No. 985 "On the Strategy for the Development of the Information Society in the Russian Federation for 2017-2030", as well as in the federal projects "Digital Economy" and "A smart city."

In this regard, the deputy considers it necessary to secure for citizens the right to independently choose a convenient way to receive and pay for housing and communal services — in paper or electronic form and to completely refuse to receive paper receipts if they consent to receive documents in electronic form.

"I am confident that the transition to full-fledged electronic document management in the housing and communal services sector, carried out on a voluntary and conscious basis, will help increase transparency, reduce administrative costs and increase trust on the part of citizens. I ask you to provide a written response within the time limits established by law," the deputy said.

Earlier, on February 13, Yulia Fedorova, a real estate expert and CEO of TERRA Management Company, spoke about ways to save money on housing and communal services.