Cool reception: fines will be imposed for violations before the heating season

What will they be fined for before the heating season?

Fines for heat supply and heating grid organizations for non-remedied violations before the heating season may be introduced in Russia. Such amendments, developed by the Ministry of Energy, were approved by the government commission on legislative activity (the document is available to Izvestia). This was reported by sources in the Cabinet.

It is proposed to amend Article 9.24 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of legislation on heat supply"), supplementing it with new elements of an administrative offense, Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, told Izvestia.

— These are such compositions as non-elimination by heat supply organizations of the identified violations specified in the act containing an assessment of readiness for the heating period in due time. A fine of 2 thousand to 4 thousand rubles will be imposed for this," he said.

If the identified violations before the heating season were not eliminated by consumers of thermal energy or management organizations, then a warning or fine of 500 rubles is provided for citizens, an administrative fine of 2-4 thousand rubles for officials, and an administrative fine of 5-10 thousand rubles for legal entities.

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It is proposed to collect from 10 thousand to 500 thousand rubles from violators.

Vladimir Gruzdev also explained that the conditions of administrative responsibility for officials are also being clarified if they have not submitted heat supply schemes to the Ministry of Energy for approval, have not posted information about public hearings or the protocol on the results of their conduct on time. These violations are fraught with a warning or an administrative fine of 5-10 thousand rubles.

It is planned that the State Duma may consider and adopt the bill in the fourth quarter of 2025.

What should be the penalties?

The appearance of such fines is a continuation of work to tighten the rules for preparing for the autumn-winter season, Svetlana Razvorotneva, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services, told Izvestia.

According to the recently adopted amendments to the law "On Heat Supply", the act of readiness for the autumn-winter period is now signed in two stages, the deputy recalled.

— Previously, such an act simply stated whether the facility was ready for winter. Then the inspectors faced a choice. Not signing the act meant that heat could not be provided, that is, houses and social facilities would have to be frozen. Or sign an act and hope that nothing happens in winter," she explained.

Now, according to the deputy, first there is a check of the facility's readiness for winter, defects are indicated, and it is prescribed to eliminate them. And then an act is signed stating that they have been eliminated.

— There was a question of what to do with those who had not fixed these shortcomings. The proposed initiative introduces punishment for them. But, in my opinion, it's ridiculous. Because a fine of 2-4 thousand rubles is like an elephant shot," she believes.

Such a measure of influence will in no way stimulate the speedy elimination of violations, Svetlana Razvorotneva believes. In her opinion, the fines for resource-supplying organizations should be several times higher.

How responsibility works in practice

Izvestia has already written that officials responsible for housing and communal services have been held accountable in various regions. For example, in October 2024, after signals from the public and information on social networks, an inspection was carried out and a decision was made to initiate criminal proceedings under the article on negligence against unidentified persons in the administration of Chekhov near Moscow. Citizens complained about the worn-out equipment of the city's boilers and pumping stations, as well as the fact that the heating season did not start on time.

At the same time, a criminal case under the article on the provision of services that do not meet safety requirements was initiated by Novosibirsk investigators, since an emergency mode had to be introduced in the Pervomaisky district of the city due to heating problems affecting several streets.

And in Irkutsk, in May 2024, the prosecutor's office organized an investigation into a major utility accident: then residents of the Sverdlovsk district were temporarily left without hot water and heating.

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Currently, both administrative and criminal liability mechanisms are in place in the field of heat supply, lawyers interviewed by Izvestia said. Thus, administrative liability is provided for violation of the rules for connection to heat supply systems, violation of the rules for the operation of heat supply facilities, violation of the rules for the protection of heating networks, said Alexey Gavrishev, head of AVG Legal.

— Fines for officials can reach 100 thousand rubles, for legal entities — up to 500 thousand rubles, — he explained.

If violations lead to serious consequences, such as accidents, mass shutdown or loss of life, criminal liability may also arise under Article 215.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Rendering life support facilities unusable"), which provides for up to eight years in prison, the lawyer emphasized.

— It applies primarily to resource supply organizations, management companies, officials, and local governments responsible for heat supply. Contractors who have committed violations during the repair and operation of systems may also be held accountable," said Alexey Gavrishev.

However, most often, according to lawyers, we are talking about administrative fines, which are imposed annually in large numbers.

— There are especially many of them in the autumn-winter period in preparation for the heating season and in case of accidents. Criminal cases are initiated much less frequently and, as a rule, after high—profile accidents, for example, during serious communal emergencies in the regions," Alexey Gavrishev added.

In case of harm to the health or property of consumers, civil liability is provided, recalled Ilya Vasilchuk, a judicial lawyer and an expert on the security of electronic transactions and real estate transactions.

"Despite the cases when thousands of apartments were disconnected from heat during the heating season due to accidents, the perpetrators are more often brought to justice in the framework of civil law relations in terms of compensation for damage caused by ruptured pipes and in other similar cases," he said.

Thus, most violations are limited to administrative protocols and fines, and criminal articles are used only in extreme cases, the lawyers concluded.