354 resolution of April 16. On amendments to certain acts of the government of the Russian Federation on the provision of public services. Changes that are being made to acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utilities

"3. Standard consumption of utility services for heating in residential premises (Gcal per month per 1 sq. m of the total area of ​​​​all residential and non-residential premises in apartment building or residential building) is determined by the following formula:

(formula 5)

Total consumption of thermal energy for heating during the heating period apartment buildings or residential buildings, determined according to the readings of collective (community) metering devices in apartment buildings or individual metering devices in residential buildings (Gcal);

The total area of ​​all residential and non-residential premises in apartment buildings or the total area of ​​residential buildings (sq. m);

A period equal to the duration of the heating period (the number of calendar months, including incomplete ones, in the heating period) in which the total consumption of thermal energy for heating apartment buildings or residential buildings was measured.";

The words “and also” should be deleted;

Add the words “as well as the procedure and conditions for receiving meter readings”;

Application of increasing factors when determining consumption standards utilities in residential premises and those provided for general house needs (with the exception of utility services for gas supply and sewerage for common house needs), if it is technically possible to install collective (common house), individual or common (apartment) metering devices, it is provided for by the Rules for establishing and determining standards for the consumption of utility services, approved by government resolution Russian Federation dated May 23, 2006 No. 306 (hereinafter referred to as Rules No. 306), as well as decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 2013.

Reference to Resolution No. 344 of April 16, 2013 on amendments to certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utility services

The document was developed by the Russian Ministry of Regional Development.

In accordance with decisions made by the President of the Russian Federation (No. Pr-340 of February 19, 2013) and the Government of the Russian Federation (No. DK-P9-21pr of February 2, 2013), the Resolution makes the following changes to the Rules for establishing and determining utility consumption standards services approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 23, 2006 No. 306, and Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354:

Establishing fees for utilities provided for general house needs in an amount not exceeding the standard for the consumption of utility services for general house needs;

Elimination of the obligation for consumers to provide monthly information about meter readings within fixed deadlines;

Simplification of the procedure for establishing the fact of provision of utility services of inadequate quality;

Exclusion of the obligation to pay for public sewerage services provided for general house needs;

Determination of composition common property owners of premises in an apartment building, used to calculate the amount of payment for water supply utilities provided for general house needs;

Introduction of the obligation to recalculate the amount of payment for utility services based on the results of reconciliation of meter readings;

The use of increasing coefficients from January 1, 2015, increasing the standard for the consumption of utility services, in the absence of collective (common house) meters and (or) individual, common (apartment) meters, if there is the technical possibility of installing them;

The procedure for drawing up an act on establishing the number of temporary residents (not registered in the residential premises in the prescribed manner) with the establishment of the possibility of recalculating the amount of payment on the basis of protocols on administrative offenses provided for in Article 19.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences.

The document is aimed at improving legislation regulating the provision of public services.

Implementation of the Resolution will allow:

Encourage organizations managing apartment buildings to implement energy saving measures in order to ensure rational use of utility resources;

Reduce the burden on consumers of utility services by eliminating the obligation to provide monthly information about meter readings;

Encourage owners of premises in an apartment building to install metering devices;

Reduce the amount of payment for utility services provided for general house needs (by eliminating the obligation to pay for utility sewerage services provided for general house needs, as well as improving the procedure for calculating the consumption standard for utility water supply services).

On amendments to certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utility services

Government of the Russian Federation decides:

1. Approve the attached changes that are being made to the acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utility services.

2. State authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, before June 1, 2013, ensure that the regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are brought into compliance with the changes approved by this resolution.

3. Recommend to authorities local government ensure through holding general meetings of premises owners
in apartment buildings, informing the owners of premises who directly manage apartment buildings about energy saving measures in the event that the volume of communal resources consumed for general house needs, determined on the basis of readings from collective (community) metering devices, exceeds the corresponding consumption standards.

4. Establish that:

1) paragraph 1 of the changes approved by this resolution comes into force 7 days from the date of official publication of this resolution;

2) paragraph 2 of the changes approved by this resolution comes into force on June 1, 2013, with the exception of subparagraphs “c”
and “t”, which come into force on January 1, 2015.

Chairman of the Government
Russian Federation D. Medvedev

And now there is war again.
This time I decided to blog,
in case someone else finds it useful
or who can recommend something useful.

A little history.

I live in a relatively recently built 9-story brick building and I have a one-room apartment in this house. I looked at the amounts billed to me for heat supply and was simply amazed at their size. I decided to install a meter, the story was long and took more than ten months instead of ten days, as expected. But I installed the meter, and for the heating period I paid more than 3 times less than what I was charged before installation. Now, a new heating season has arrived and they started sending me bills again for the common house metering unit. I called, asked, and said that I consumed 150 rubles worth of heat, but they charged 1,800 rubles. And here from the phone: “We cannot work illegally, the Government of the Russian Federation issued Decree No. 344 dated April 16, 2013, which says that you can throw away your meter.”

I open the resolution and read it.

The consumer of a communal heating service pays a fee for this service in aggregate, without dividing into the fee for consumption of the specified service in a residential (non-residential) premises and the fee for its consumption for general house needs.
Consumer of utility services for heating and (or) hot water supply produced and provided by the contractor to the consumer in the absence centralized systems heating and (or) hot water supply, pays a total fee for such a utility service, calculated in accordance with paragraph 54 of these Rules and including both the fee for the utility service provided to the consumer in residential or non-residential premises, and the fee for the utility service provided in general house needs.";
h) in paragraph 42:
the first paragraph after the words “metering device,” add the words “except for the payment for the heating utility service,”;
paragraph three shall be declared invalid;
i) add paragraph 42(1) as follows:
"42(1). In the absence of collective (common house), common (apartment) and individual metering devices in all residential or non-residential premises apartment building The amount of payment for utility services for heating is determined in accordance with formula 2 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules based on the standard consumption of utility services.
In an apartment building that is equipped with a collective (common building) heat energy metering device and in which not all residential or non-residential premises are equipped with individual and (or) common (apartment) heat energy meters (distributors), the amount of payment for utility services for heating in a residential building indoors is determined in accordance with formula 3 of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules based on the readings of a collective (common house) heat energy meter.

In an apartment building that is equipped with a collective (common building) heat energy metering device and in which all residential and non-residential premises are equipped with individual and (or) common (apartment) heat energy meters (distributors), the amount of payment for utility services for heating in residential and non-residential premises is determined in accordance with formula 3(1) of Appendix No. 2 to these Rules based on the readings of individual and (or) general (apartment) heat energy meters.";

That is, if at least one apartment or change house where the janitor puts a shovel does not have a meter, then we take the consumption of the entire house, divide it by the number of squares owned and multiply by the number of “my” squares. And the fact that a neighbor regulates the temperature with a window, and I have an automatic system, plus very expensive work has been carried out to reduce heat loss, does not interest anyone.

1. The energy supplying organization is obliged to supply the subscriber with energy through the connected network in the quantity stipulated by the energy supply contract and in compliance with the supply mode agreed upon by the parties. The amount of energy supplied to the subscriber and used by him is determined in accordance with the accounting data on its actual consumption.
(as amended by Federal Law dated March 26, 2003 N 37-FZ)
2. An energy supply contract may provide for the subscriber’s right to change the amount of energy he receives, determined by the contract, subject to reimbursement of expenses incurred by him energy supply organization in connection with the provision of energy supply not in the quantity stipulated by the contract.
3. In the case where the subscriber under the energy supply contract is a citizen who uses energy for domestic consumption, he has the right to use energy in the amount he needs

Here: “The amount of energy supplied to the subscriber and used by him is determined in accordance with the accounting data on its actual consumption.”
And who else but the meter, who does not participate in any way in the formula that our “respected” government has indicated, will show my actual consumption (yes, we need to add places here common use, but not to the same extent). There is some kind of “inconsistency”. We are looking for what to do in this case?

Yeah, we find it in the same Civil Code of the Russian Federation:

Article 3. Civil legislation and other acts containing norms civil law

1. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, civil legislation is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.
2. Civil legislation consists of this Code and other laws adopted in accordance with it federal laws(hereinafter referred to as the laws) governing the relations specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 2 of this Code.
The rules of civil law contained in other laws must comply with this Code.
3. The relations specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 2 of this Code may also be regulated by decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, which must not contradict this Code and other laws.
4. On the basis of and in pursuance of this Code and other laws, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation has the right to adopt resolutions containing norms of civil law.
5. If a decree of the President of the Russian Federation or a resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation conflicts with this Code or another law, this Code or the relevant law shall apply.
6. Action and application of civil law norms contained in decrees of the President of the Russian Federation and decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as other legal acts), are determined by the rules of this chapter.
7. Ministries and others federal authorities The executive branch may issue acts containing civil law norms in cases and within the limits provided for by this Code, other laws and other legal acts.

This means that if our government has next meeting it was not the head that worked, but the place where it “sat”, then we apply the law, and not their “pointer”.
And in accordance with the law on consumer rights, if the service is not provided in the volume in which payment is required for it, then the party providing the service (heat supply) must return this difference and continue to charge “at least somehow in proportion to the actual volume consumed ".

I will sue. But I think there’s no need to rush, I’ll first write a claim asking for a recount. Naturally, no one will rush to count. But this will be taken into account by the court as an attempt at a pre-trial settlement.
Today is Monday, they are not working. I'll make a claim tomorrow. I will post the text of the complaint after I register it at the reception.

Unfortunately, I am a mathematician, not a lawyer, I don’t complain about the lack of logic, but I don’t know the law at the level of a lawyer. If any of the lawyers leaves a useful comment or suggestion, I will be grateful. Please leave only substantive comments, comments that will not bring any benefit to anyone (like: yes, it’s still useless, but we have “radishes” in our government, etc. I will mercilessly clean them from time to time.

Thanks to everyone who mastered my “lyrics” to the end, who decides to help good advice Welcome.

Reference to Resolution No. 344 of April 16, 2013 on amendments to certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utility services

The document was developed by the Russian Ministry of Regional Development.

In accordance with decisions made by the President of the Russian Federation (No. Pr-340 of February 19, 2013) and the Government of the Russian Federation (No. DK-P9-21pr of February 2, 2013), the Resolution makes the following changes to the Rules for establishing and determining utility consumption standards services approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 23, 2006 No. 306, and Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 2011 No. 354:

  • - establishing fees for utilities provided for general house needs in an amount not exceeding the standard for the consumption of utility services for general house needs;
  • - exclusion of the obligation for consumers to provide monthly information about meter readings within fixed deadlines;
  • - simplification of the procedure for establishing the fact of provision of utility services of inadequate quality;
  • - exclusion of the obligation to pay for public sewerage services provided for general house needs;
  • - determination of the composition of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building, used to calculate the amount of payment for water supply utilities provided for general house needs;
  • - introduction of the obligation to recalculate the amount of payment for utility services based on the results of reconciliation of meter readings;
  • - application from January 1, 2015 of increasing coefficients that increase the consumption standard for utility services, in the absence of collective (community) metering devices and (or) individual, common (apartment) metering devices, if it is technically possible to install them;
  • - the procedure for drawing up an act on establishing the number of temporary residents (not registered in the residential premises in the prescribed manner) with the establishment of the possibility of recalculating the amount of payment on the basis of protocols on administrative offenses provided for in Article 19.15 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences.
The document is aimed at improving legislation regulating the provision of public services.

Implementation of the Resolution will allow:

  • - encourage organizations managing apartment buildings to implement energy saving measures in order to ensure rational use of utility resources;
  • - reduce the burden on consumers of utility services by eliminating the obligation to provide monthly information about meter readings;
  • - encourage owners of premises in an apartment building to install metering devices;
  • - reduce the amount of payment for utility services provided for general house needs (by eliminating the obligation to pay for utility sewerage services provided for general house needs, as well as improving the procedure for calculating the consumption standard for utility water supply services).
* * *

Resolution of April 16, 2013 No. 344

On amendments to certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utility services

The Government of the Russian Federation decides:

1. Approve the attached changes that are being made to the acts of the Government of the Russian Federation on the provision of utility services.

2. State authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, before June 1, 2013, ensure that the regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are brought into compliance with the changes approved by this resolution.

3. Recommend that local government bodies ensure that by holding general meetings of owners of premises
in apartment buildings, informing the owners of premises who directly manage apartment buildings about energy saving measures in the event that the volume of communal resources consumed for general house needs, determined on the basis of readings from collective (community) metering devices, exceeds the corresponding consumption standards.

4. Establish that:
1) paragraph 1 of the changes approved by this resolution comes into force 7 days from the date of official publication of this resolution;
2) paragraph 2 of the changes approved by this resolution comes into force on June 1, 2013, with the exception of subparagraphs “c”
and “t”, which come into force on January 1, 2015.

Chairman of the Government
Russian Federation D. Medvedev



Implementation of the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354 in St. Petersburg

(as amended from April 16, 2013 No. 344)

On 06/01/2013, changes came into force in the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 05/06/2011 No. 354, introduced by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/16/2013 No. 344 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) .

Changes to the Rules provide for the following:

Establishing fees for utilities provided for general house needs in an amount not exceeding the standard for the consumption of utility services for general house needs;

Elimination of the obligation for consumers to provide monthly information about meter readings within fixed deadlines;

Simplification of the procedure for establishing the fact of provision of utility services of inadequate quality;

Exclusion of the obligation to pay for public sewerage services provided for general house needs (based on clause 4 of the Rules);

Determination of the composition of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building, used to calculate the amount of payment for water supply utilities provided for general house needs;

Introduction of the obligation to recalculate the amount of payment for utility services based on the results of reconciliation of meter readings;

The use of increasing coefficients from January 1, 2015, increasing the standard consumption of utility services, in the absence of collective (common house) meters and (or) individual, common (apartment) meters, if there is the technical possibility of installing them;

The procedure for drawing up an act on establishing the number of temporary residents (not registered in the residential premises in the prescribed manner) with the establishment of the possibility of recalculating the amount of fees on the basis of protocols on administrative offenses provided for in Art. 19.15 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Implementation of changes to the Rules allows:

Encourage organizations managing apartment buildings to implement energy saving measures in order to ensure rational use of utility resources;

Reduce the burden on consumers of utility services by eliminating the obligation to provide monthly information about meter readings;

Encourage owners of premises in an apartment building to install metering devices;

Reduce the amount of payment for utility services provided for general house needs (by eliminating the obligation to pay for utility sewerage services provided for general house needs, as well as improving the procedure for calculating the consumption standard for utility water supply services).

The Tariff Committee of St. Petersburg, by order No. 97-r dated May 27, 2013, approved new consumption standards for cold and hot water supply for general house needs and new standards for heating:

Consumption standards for cold and hot water supply for common house needs have been reduced by 9 and 6 times, respectively, and amount to 0.03 cubic meters per square meter of common property premises,

The consumption standard for wastewater disposal for general household needs has been excluded;

- The standard for heating for general house needs has been excluded, while the standard for consumption for heating residential premises includes a component for general house needs, as was the case before 09/01/2012. Heating utility consumption standards have been reduced by 5% compared to those in force before 06/01/2013 (in comparable conditions).

Establishing the fact of provision of utility services of inadequate quality

From June 1, 2013, the procedure for establishing the fact of provision of utility services of inadequate quality has been simplified.

If the contractor fails to carry out an inspection within no more than 2 hours from the moment of receiving a message from the consumer to the emergency dispatch service, unless another time is agreed upon with the consumer, the consumer has the right to draw up an act in the absence of the contractor with the involvement of at least 2 consumers and the chairman The council of an apartment building, or the chairman of the HOA, housing cooperative, residential complex.

In this case, the date and time of the beginning of the violation of the quality of the utility service recorded in the act are the date and time from which it is considered that the service is provided with violations of quality (for subsequent recalculation).

The procedure for determining the composition of the common property of the owners of premises in an apartment building, used to calculate the amount of payment for water supply utilities provided for general building needs.

From 06/01/2013, the Rules included the concept of the total area of ​​​​premises that are part of the common property in an apartment building, in order to determine the volume of communal resources (cold water, hot water, electrical energy) for general house needs per residential or non-residential premises in an apartment building : the total area of ​​inter-apartment landings, stairs, corridors, vestibules, halls, lobbies, wheelchairs, security (concierge) premises that do not belong to individual owners.

When determining the area included in the common property in an apartment building, one should be guided by the letter of the Tariff Committee of St. Petersburg dated September 7, 2012 No. 01-14-1769/12-0-0.

The ratio of “the area of ​​the common property of the house” and “the total area of ​​residential and non-residential premises” directly affects the amount of payment for utilities for general house needs.

The average percentage of the ratio of the area of ​​common property to the total area of ​​residential and non-residential premises of apartment buildings, according to the analysis of 8118 technical passports of apartment buildings, is 12.5%. At the same time, in accordance with the technical passport of the house and planning features, the area of ​​the common property premises may be a larger percentage, which is not an error.

As examples:

1. The total area of ​​residential and non-residential premises is 11628.61 sq.m, the area of ​​the common property of the house is 982.45 sq.m, the area of ​​the apartment is 62.74 sq.m.

The share of the common property area coming to the specified apartment will be 5.3 sq.m (8.4%).

0.03 cubic meters * 5.3 sq.m * 20.38 rub. per cubic meter = 3.2 rub.

0.03 cubic meters * 5.3 sq.m * 81.08 rub. per cubic meter = 12.89 rub.

2. The total area of ​​residential and non-residential premises is 4265.6 sq.m, the area of ​​the common property of the house is 837 sq.m, the area of ​​the apartment is 67.6 sq.m.

The share of the common property area coming to the specified apartment will be 13.26 sq.m (19.6%).

The amount of payment for cold water supply for general house needs per month will be no more than:

0.03 cubic meters * 13.26 sq.m * 20.38 rub. per cubic meter = 8.11 rub.

The amount of payment for hot water supply for general house needs per month will be no more than:

0.03 cubic meters * 13.26 sq.m * 81.08 rub. per cubic meter = 32.25 rub.

General household consumption.

P one i = V one i * T cr,(formula 10)

P one i– the amount of payment for utility services provided for general house needs in an apartment building for the i-th residential premises (apartment);

V one i– volume (quantity) of a communal resource provided for billing period for general house needs in an apartment building and attributable to the i-th residential premises (apartment);

T cr– tariff for a utility resource established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

, (formula 11)

V i one.1– the volume (quantity) of cold water per residential premises (apartment) provided for the billing period for general house needs in an apartment building equipped with a collective (common building) cold water meter;

V d– volume (quantity) of cold water consumed during the billing period in an apartment building, determined according to the readings of the collective (common house) cold water meter;

V u tender– volume (quantity) of cold water consumed during the billing period in the u-th non-residential premises;

V v lived.n– volume (quantity) of cold water consumed during the billing period in the v-th residential premises (apartment), not equipped with an individual or common (apartment) metering device;

V w– volume (quantity) of cold water consumed during the billing period in the w-th residential premises (apartment), equipped with an individual or shared (apartment) cold water meter, determined from the readings of such a meter;

V i guards– volume (quantity) of hot water (in the case of independent production by the utility service provider for hot water supply (in the absence of centralized hot water supply)), consumed during the billing period in i-th core premises (apartment) or non-residential premises in an apartment building;

V kr – the volume of cold water used by the contractor in the production of communal heating services (in the absence of centralized heating), which in addition was also used by the contractor in order to provide consumers with communal services for cold water supply;

S i

S about

Household consumption

, (formula 12)

V i one.2– the volume (quantity) of hot water, gas, waste water and electrical energy per residential premises (apartment) provided during the billing period for common house needs in an apartment building equipped with a collective (common house) metering device for the corresponding type of communal resource;

V d– the volume (quantity) of a utility resource consumed during the billing period in an apartment building, determined according to the readings of a collective (common building) utility meter;

V u tender– volume (quantity) of communal resource consumed during the billing period in the u-th non-residential premises;

V v lived.n– volume (quantity) of a utility resource consumed during the billing period in the v-th residential premises (apartment) not equipped with an individual or common (apartment) metering device;

V w– the volume (quantity) of a communal resource consumed during the billing period in the w-th residential premises (apartment), equipped with an individual or common (apartment) metering device for the corresponding type of communal resource, determined from the readings of such a metering device;

V kr – volume of the corresponding type of communal resource ( Electric Energy, gas), used during the billing period by the contractor in the production of utility services for heating and (or) hot water supply (in the absence of centralized heating and (or) hot water supply), which in addition was also used by the contractor in order to provide consumers with utility services for electricity supply and (or) gas supply;

S i– the total area of ​​the i-th residential premises (apartment) in an apartment building;

S about– the total area of ​​all residential premises (apartments) and non-residential premises in an apartment building.

Heating

Individual consumption

, (formula 3)

V D– the volume (quantity) of thermal energy consumed during the billing period, determined according to the readings of the collective (community) thermal energy meter with which the apartment building is equipped;

S i – total area of ​​the i-th residential or non-residential premises;

The total area of ​​all residential and non-residential premises of an apartment building;

Т Т – tariff for thermal energy, established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The volume of thermal energy according to the common house meter is 57.405 Gcal

Tariff per volume unit – 1351.25 rubles/Gcal

The area of ​​residential and non-residential premises in the house is 1501.99 sq.m.

Apartment area – 31 sq.m.

Explanations on certain issues of application of the Rules for the provision of public utilities, taking into account the changes introduced by Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 16, 2013 No. 344 and dated September 19, 2013 No. 824

On 06/01/2013, changes came into force in the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 05/06/2011 No. 354, introduced by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/16/2013 No. 344 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) .

Changes to the Rules provide for the following:

1. Payments for sewerage for general house needs are excluded.

2. Payment for heating for general house needs is excluded.

3. Standards for the consumption of utilities for cold and hot water supply for general house needs have been significantly reduced by 9 and 6 times, respectively.

4. It is envisaged that from January 1, 2015, increasing coefficients will be introduced to the utility service consumption standards in the event that individual (apartment) metering devices are not installed, if it is technically possible to install them.

5. A procedure has been introduced for drawing up an act on establishing the number of temporary residents (not registered in the residential premises in the prescribed manner) with the establishment of the possibility of recalculating the amount of payment.

6. If there are common house metering devices, the amount of payment for cold and hot water supply for common house needs should not be higher than calculated according to consumption standards established by the Tariff Committee of St. Petersburg.

At the same time, the decision general meeting owners of premises in an apartment building may make other decisions on the distribution of communal resources for general house needs.

7. If a fact of provision of a utility service of inadequate quality is identified (deviation in hot water temperature, change in water properties: color, smell, etc.), the procedure for establishing the fact of provision of a utility service of inadequate quality for subsequent recalculation of fees has been simplified.

Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated September 19, 2013 No. 824 established the obligation management organization, Homeowners' associations, residential complexes, housing cooperatives commission the commissioning of individual metering devices without charging the consumer. Thus, this service is provided free of charge.