Banks and utility companies did not support the ban on commissions when paying rent – Rossiyskaya Gazeta

In 2020, a bill on the abolition of commissions in the payment of housing and communal services was submitted to Parliament, one of the authors of which is the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. After being adopted at first reading, he remained motionless for several years, but now the deputies have re-examined him and the possibilities of his adoption in the near future are great. In the version of the bill for second reading, it is prohibited to charge commission in the payment of housing and communal services, as well as in the payment of penalties for late payment. The ban will apply to credit institutions, postal operators and payment agents.

The bank-service provider relationship is a business relationship, Pakhomov believes. “We need to eliminate from these trade relations the most vulnerable link – residents who, for no reason, are forced to overpay for housing and communal services,” he said. The approval of the bill will not affect the cost of public services, since it is prohibited to include commissions in rates. Service providers will also not be able to pay them, as they are subject to strict tariff regulation and more than half of them are municipal or state companies that are prohibited from making profits, Pakhomov explained. Banks run the risk of certain losses, but it must also be taken into account that supplying organizations always have significant funds in their accounts and using them also costs something. “We are looking for a solution that suits everyone. Maybe banks will be given more days to use these funds,” he said.

As a compromise solution, public service companies propose prohibiting the charging of commissions only to socially vulnerable taxpayers: pensioners and beneficiaries.

Just a few years ago, banks charged fees of 2 to 3% for paying utility bills. Now the level of commissions is below 1%, there are banks that do not charge any commission. The emergence of the fastest payment system played an important role in this regard.

Associations in the housing and communal services sector sent an appeal to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin asking him to amend the bill. The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance support the position of the banking community to supplement the bill with provisions on the transfer of commissions to management, resource-providing organizations, review operators, etc., it is indicated in the letter. These costs will have to be included in utility rates, utility companies say. As a result, citizens will continue to bear the burden of such payments, albeit indirectly, industry representatives believe. If there are no sources of financing for these services, this will lead to the degradation of existing payment services, a reduction in the number of payment methods and acceptance points and, ultimately, an increase in housing debt and communal services, the associations say. believe.

As a compromise solution, public service companies propose to prohibit the collection of rates only from socially vulnerable payers (pensioners, beneficiaries) or only from credit institutions. It is also necessary to directly prohibit in the law the transfer of commissions to housing and communal services organizations, since this will entail an increase in tariffs or a reduction in the costs of modernizing the infrastructure of public services and other concepts, the letter says. .

Previously, the National Council of the Financial Market spoke out against the abolition of payment rates for housing and communal services. In their opinion, with the introduction of the ban, banks will worsen customer service conditions, the number of paying agents will sharply decrease, and the situation will negatively affect the rates on deposits and loans.