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"Beastly attitude". Nizhny Novgorod residents pay for heat, but live in the cold: what to do?
"HELP" — this is how residents of Nizhny Novgorod ask for help in solving the problem of cold in their apartments. Despite the fact that the heating season began on October 1, 12 thousand residents were disconnected from the DUK lines every day. NewsNN found out why this happens and how to get money back for services not rendered.
If you look at the comments of Nizhny Novgorod residents on the pages of Governor Gleb Nikitin and Mayor Yuri Shalabaev, you can see an endless list of complaints about the cold in their apartments. Sometimes the temperature does not exceed 12 degrees. The heating season in Nizhny Novgorod officially started on October 1 (in some regions - September 25). First, heat had to be delivered to hospitals, kindergartens and educational institutions. "A music school without a fever!!! Will children soon go to school in jackets? And how can we improve our demographics if we have such a brutal attitude towards people? "The announced two weeks have passed, and we have no heat." Author Valentina B. The Nizhny Novgorod administration warned that starting up the heating is a labor-intensive process, so it takes about two weeks for heating to appear in each house. But they have already passed. "You are completely violating all heat delivery deadlines. What is your attitude towards people? Currently, DUK does not even say who is responsible for the report. It registers some requests, but does not even provide a deadline. This is terrible. "Every year the same thing." complains Alina H. Moreover, there are problems with heating not only on the outskirts of the city, but also in the center. "Since the last heating season, we have been working to get heating on Gorky Street, 142! The new season has begun, but there is no heat yet! A veteran and an elderly person live here, who regularly pay rent, but in fact do not receive any services! This is just a mockery on the part of the housing office," wrote Gelya D. Let me remind you that utility prices for some Nizhny Novgorod residents have increased several times over the past year. "Unfortunately, conscientious fulfillment of obligations to pay heating bills does not guarantee the same conscientious attitude to the maintenance of heating networks," said housing and utilities lawyer and former civil servant Roman Kozeev in a conversation with NewsNN. According to Nizhny Novgorod lawyer Konstantin Datskevich, from a legal point of view, a two-week delay in heating is not the norm. “In fact, from October 2, 2024, heat must be supplied to all residential complexes in the city connected to the central heating system. If there is still no temperature, this is grounds for administrative liability. However, it is important to understand that if the executive authority has issued a decree, then additional responsibility falls on resource organizations,” the source explained to NewsNN. The Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities told NewsNN that everyone should have heating. Now technical violations of external networks and internal communications raise specific questions related to heat supply. If there is no heat in your home, contact the management company. Kozeev is also confident that the rights of Nizhny Novgorod residents have been violated. He advises not to waste time and write a complaint to the prosecutor's office if you have been without heating for a long time, and the DUK ignores your calls. “The lack of heating means,that someone failed to fulfill their obligations. When filling out an application to the prosecutor's office, be sure to indicate the following: This created a threat to the life and health of citizens living in the apartment. This short route will not ensure opening "right tomorrow", but it can affect the speed, the lawyer explained. NewsNN's interlocutor notes that phrases like "the house has a debt for utility bills" and "the network is old" do not provide grounds for thousands of Nizhny Novgorod residents to be left without heating. NewsNN sent a request to the Nizhny Novgorod Region Prosecutor's Office to find out how many complaints have already been received. NewsNN also contacted five DUK associations in Nizhny Novgorod. Press Secretary Vitaly Zyukov reported that 10-12 thousand people call the contact center every day. But sometimes, when there are about 100 employees on the call, we do not have time to answer everyone. NewsNN's interlocutor explained that the delay in heat supply depends on several factors, the most important of which are network wear and tear and accidents that no one can predict. "There are also factors that cannot be calculated, and the percentage is only 5%. However, it is important to understand that 70% of all heating systems wear out. In any case, if the pipes rot, the heating will jump and that's it. The pipes burst, breakthroughs begin and the heating stops," he noted. Five DUK associations also noted that the problem could be related to the new boiler house. "Today, boiler houses are installed depending on the weather. The automatic system regulates the temperature of the coolant supply. At positive temperatures, the boiler house operates at a certain percentage of capacity. If it is -20 or -30 degrees, it will turn on at full capacity. But there are also disadvantages. The boiler house is new, but the networks and houses are old. The thermal and hydraulic systems can get out of balance, which can also lead to accidents," Zyukov says. The NewsNN interlocutor added that heat will be supplied to all houses by the end of October. "Yes, the order to start heating was on October 1, but the resource supplying agency began to seriously provide heating only two weeks after that day. That's because it was still warm outside. "We're working hard and doing everything we can," he concluded. If you're willing to take the time to prepare the necessary paperwork, you could be rewarded for the time you spend in your cold apartment. "You can get a 0.15% discount on your monthly heating bill for every hour the temperature is below 20 degrees," explained attorney Datskevich. What you need to do to recalculate your heating arrears:• Call the hotline of your management company or heat supply company (if you pay for heating on a separate receipt) and leave a request for emergency services to arrive. Arrive within 24 hours; • If emergency services don't arrive, you should leave a request in the "Report a Problem" section of the resource provider's website so you have proof thatthat you called the emergency services. • If no one contacts you after 24 hours, file a complaint with the State Housing Inspectorate and the Prosecutor's Office about the inaction of the resource service or criminal justice employee. • After a response, you can go to court to recalculate utility bills and compensate for moral and material damages, for example, if the apartment was damaged. Here is an alternative option suggested by Kozeev: • Make a report on the heat deficit (record the start time and recalculation of the period of violation of your rights). According to lawyers, greater success is achieved through attention to detail. For example, you can request a report on the readiness of your home for the heating season. Having dealt with the documents, it is recommended to study the municipal contract for heat supply or boiler room repair and check its implementation. NewsNN previously provided a complete list of phone numbers to call if you have no heating. Obviously, heating problems in Nizhny Novgorod will persist until all the old pipes are replaced with new ones. Is this possible? The question is rhetorical. A place where residents of Turkey, as well as Nizhny Novgorod, can usefully relax with children on vacation.