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Bring it to automatism: what will electronic debt collection for housing and communal services change?
In Russia, they are launching electronic debt collection for housing and communal services through Gosuslugi, with subsidies for those in need and automation for defaulters. The experiment will affect 19 regions. The measure is designed to simplify the procedure, which will have a positive impact on all participants in the housing and communal services sector. The rights of debtors will not be infringed upon, experts expect. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Instability support
The Ministry of Construction of Russia, together with the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, is implementing an experiment on electronic interaction for collecting accounts receivable for housing and communal services. The State Information System of Housing and Communal Services (GIS Housing and Communal Services), the portal of public Services and the State Automated System "Justice" (GAS "Justice") will be used for its implementation, the press service of the ministry told Izvestia.
The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor and the Social Fund of Russia are participating in the implementation of the experiment.
According to the GIS housing and communal services database, the experiment will affect 19 regions (19 companies). Among them are the Moscow, Astrakhan, Sverdlovsk, Voronezh, Kaliningrad and Ryazan regions, the Republic of Komi, Udmurtia, Stavropol, Primorsky Krai and others.
The transition to electronic notifications does not deprive debtors of a chance to negotiate, the interviewed participants in the housing and communal services market emphasize. The mechanism retains the standard steps, but accelerates them due to electronic network systems. The procedure remains unchanged: it includes pre-trial settlement with claims and negotiations, filing a lawsuit in court, making a decision, and then enforcement proceedings through bailiffs with possible recovery of the debtor's salary or property, recalls Olga Serdyuk, a member of the Public Council at the Ministry of Construction of Russia.
— The introduction of an automatic debt collection system does not cancel court decisions. It's just that the statement of claim for the court from the service provider is not formed by him personally, but through state information systems," says Svetlana Razvorotneva, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services.
The mechanism of electronic debt collection for housing and communal services will be based on court orders generated and sent through GIS housing and communal services with integration into GAS "Justice" and "Gosuslugi", recalls Lyudmila Zhgun, a member of the regional headquarters of the Popular Front in the Altai Territory, director of the Altai regional public Organization "Consumer Protection". Thanks to this, the debtor will have time to solve the problem before the write-off.
If there is a debt, resource supply organizations will contact the GIS housing and communal services operator, and the system itself will request data from Rosreestr, notify the debtor and transfer the signed application with a package of documents to GAS "Justice", Olga Serdyuk reveals the algorithm.
The debt cancellation project will not affect low-income families, as all foreclosures will go through the courts, as before, said Tatiana Vepretskaya, director of the National Housing Congress Association.
"Families with unstable incomes are advised to cancel the court order, conclude an installment agreement and apply for a subsidy when paying off debts," says Andrey Zhbanchikov, chairman of the Public Council for Housing and Communal Services at the Saratov City Administration.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation reminds that compensation for housing and utilities costs can be provided to large families, pensioners, veterans, participants in military operations, as well as those who spend more than 22% of the family budget on housing. A set of social support measures is in place at the federal and regional levels, and 2 million families receive subsidies for housing and communal services.
The electronic format does not cancel out key guarantees, but rather enhances control, experts say. The debtor receives notifications and the right to object, which makes the process more transparent.
— It is important to understand that within the framework of the experiment under discussion, we are not talking about "auto—writing" debts or "electronic debt collection without trial," Olga Serdyuk draws attention. — The debt collection procedure includes a pre-trial settlement and a judicial procedure that begins with filing a lawsuit in court.
Outside the access area
Large—scale digitalization can theoretically create difficulties for one of the most vulnerable categories of the population, the elderly. However, neither regulators nor experts consider this risk to be serious, because for those who are offline, the traditional channel remains — paper information.
Notifications from GAS "Justice" come to the personal accounts of the public services system, however, if a person does not log into a personal account or does not use the portal, the notification will be delivered through the Russian Post, explains State Duma deputy Svetlana Razvorotneva.
"Even with the active use of digital services, a court order under the current procedural legislation must be sent to a citizen in paper form," Lyudmila Zhgun reminds.
For pensioners who do not use the Internet, it is important that the current registration and the actual address of residence coincide: an official copy of the court order will be delivered to this address, and the time limits for appeal are calculated from the date of its receipt.
At the same time, the court must check whether the notices of judicial foreclosure have been delivered and resend them, including in hard copy, if this has not happened, Tatiana Vepretskaya clarifies.
Automation is also not so terrible because Russian pensioners are among the most conscientious consumers, experts add. As a rule, senior citizens do not have debts for judicial penalties.
System load
The pilot launch in 19 regions is a test of the strength of the IT infrastructure, but the load is minimal, according to sources close to the industry. Housing and communal services organizations join voluntarily because automation removes the routine.
To check the work of cooperation on recovery from the organization to the court, different organizations with different capabilities were selected, Tatiana Vepretskaya draws attention. For GIS housing and communal services, this is a necessary experience that makes it painless for organizations to switch to filing documents with the court through the system.
All actions are carried out through state information systems, so the burden on the regions is unlikely to increase, Svetlana Razvorotneva believes.
— The mechanism of writ proceedings has been working for a long time, and no changes are expected here. I assume that there will be functionality for managing organizations and HOAs that allows you to quickly file applications to the court for debt collection," says Lina Tkachenko, president of the AKON Association.
Complaints to the government: growth or decline?
The new service may raise questions at the start, but it will simplify the lives of all participants, because the balance of interests minimizes risks, experts say.
"At the stage of implementing any new digital procedure, it is possible to increase the number of questions from citizens — this is a normal practice for large—scale changes," says Dimitri Budnitsky. — As a rule, as citizens get used to the new format and technical and organizational processes are being worked out, the number of such appeals decreases.
The new mechanism does not cancel the judicial procedure for recovery, but only accelerates it due to digitalization, because recoverers will receive more effective tools for dealing with malicious debtors, Andrei Zhbanchikov notes.
Based on the available information, it is only assumed that new functionality will appear in GIS housing and communal services, allowing managing organizations and HOAs to quickly prepare and file debt collection applications, Lina Tkachenko emphasizes. Debtors will have an additional opportunity to learn about the court order issued against them.
All this, according to Svetlana Razvorotneva, indicates that the interests of all participants are balanced, which will not lead to an increase in the number of complaints to the government of the Russian Federation.
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