Verification of meters in 2022
We tell who is already facing sanctions from public utilities, what has changed in the rules and how best to act

At the end of January-February, quite a few realized that they needed to trust the water meters. From April to the end of December 2020, there was a moratorium introduced due to the pandemic: public utilities had to take readings from unverified devices. But in 2021, the moratorium ended, and penalties are again threatened for an unverified meter – from the fourth month of “non-verification”, fees will begin to be charged according to the standard with a multiplying coefficient (this can easily be one and a half to two times more than on the meter).

Many have already learned that companies that themselves call on the phone and offer services for checking and installing meters are, in most cases, deceivers. And how then to act? Moreover, the rules of the verification itself have changed somewhat. We tell in our instructions.

How to understand, but I really need

check water meters?

Usually this is not a problem now. The terms for checking both the hot and cold water meters (they may not coincide) are most often indicated in the payment for housing and communal services. Or in your personal account on the site through which you submit information about the readings of water meters (if you do this online).

If this is not your case, you will have to look for meter passports – they should have been given to you when these devices were installed. There is an interval between checks.

Who to contact?

In principle – to any specialized organization that has accreditation for this kind of work. And the prices for the services of which you seem to be the most attractive.

Sounds good, but it’s really not that simple. Not all firms that advertise themselves on the Internet have valid accreditation. And those who call for apartments, as a rule, do not have it.

– In my experience, those organizations that legally deal with verification do not have problems with clients. On the contrary, there is a queue for their services, sometimes for several weeks – there is no need to engage in aggressive advertising, – told KP Andrey Kostyanov, Deputy Executive Director of Housing and Public Utilities Control.

How to check if you have found the right company? There is a special online service on the Rosaccreditation website1, where by the name of the company you can find out if it has accreditation for checking household water meters.

Rosaccreditation specialists also recommend conducting an additional check: comparing the company’s data (address, TIN) with those indicated in the register.

An option for those who are not friends with the Internet or do not want to engage in long searches is to call your managing organization. They will recommend where to go.

– It is necessary to conclude an agreement with the company. And the subject of this agreement should not be some “consultations on energy saving and water saving”, but services for checking metering devices, warns Andrey Kostyanov.

If you are asked to act,

then you are being deceived

In fact, after the arrival of a specialist, you personally do not need to do anything else. Previously, it was required to refer to your management company the act of verification, which was issued by the verifier. But now only scammers can demand this. As of September 2020, the order has changed. And now the specialist who carried out the verification must himself enter the data about it in electronic form into the special register of Rosstandart (FSIS ARSHIN).

A paper document, if you wish, can be given to you – but purely for informational purposes. And only the same electronic record of a trusted metering device in FSIS ARSHIN has legal force. And it is this information that should be guided by those who bill you for water.

The most correct option is if a specialist enters verification data into the register with you. But you can also see for yourself that he really did it. The registry is here, in the search bar you need to drive in data about your device – and see the result2.

Popular questions and answers

Do I need to check or change electricity meters?
You don’t have to do anything with them. Indeed, last year legislative changes came into force, according to which it is planned to gradually replace all conventional electricity meters with smart ones. But this will be done by electricity supply companies. The name of this company is on your light receipt. All the rest who are trying to impose some services related to electricity meters can be safely ignored. Important: the replacement of conventional electricity meters with smart ones is carried out at the expense of electricity suppliers. If they offer to pay for the devices themselves or someone else’s services, you are being deceived.
Nice people are calling – are they definitely scammers?
A sure way to bring “nice people” to clean water is to ask them to leave all the details of the company (full name, TIN, address, phone number), as well as the last name, first name, patronymic and contact phone number of the caller. If this is a respectable company, it will not go anywhere with its services from you. And her representative will not refuse to give out all the above information. And you can check if she has accreditation (according to the scheme above). Or call the management company and find out if they know such a company (and if they remember it with a bad word).

But, as a rule, “nice people” quickly become unpleasant if you pester them with unnecessary questions.

It is also important to understand that no representatives of the MFC, social security, mayor’s office and other official bodies on the verification of meters even very respected beneficiaries-pensioners do not call. Private companies are engaged in verification of meters. And it is very important to convey this to the elderly relatives. Check method: hang up, and then dial the same social security that the callers referred to.

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