What’s new in July: increase in utility tariffs, increase in salaries for public sector employees, refund of stolen money

Yesterday, innovations came into force in Russia that will affect many citizens. Utilities tariffs will increase in most regions, and the biometric passport registration will become more expensive. It will be more difficult to buy an apartment or get a car loan. At the same time, banks will begin to reimburse customers for funds stolen by fraudsters from cards and check all money transfers. Besides, pensions will be indexed for pensioners.

The end of preferential mortgages

Since July 1, 2024, preferential mortgages with state support at 8% per annum have ceased to operate in Russia. Already in June, many banks did not accept new applications from citizens wishing to purchase apartments in new buildings as part of the programme. Credit institutions were in a hurry to issue previously approved loans for the purchase of real estate.

The government decided to cancel the preferential mortgage, considering that the program has achieved its goals — to support the construction sector and increase housing affordability. The programme was introduced during the pandemic, as the construction industry was among the most affected. In the primary real estate market, there was a sharp increase in prices and a large gap in the cost of a square metre of housing compared to the secondary market. Besides, preferential mortgages were massively used not to solve the housing issue, but as an investment of funds.

Industry representatives state that a new era in the housing market is beginning. Now banks have significantly increased the requirements for down payments, respectively, developers expect a drop in demand, according to some estimates — up to 40%. “Plus, the rates for a part of the audience and for the Family Mortgage are going to increase. We also expect the cancellation of the opportunity to subsidise the rates. All this set of measures is aimed at cooling the real estate market and will lead to a reduction in demand, a drop in sales, and therefore a slowdown in real estate price growth, at least for the first few months," market expert Antonina Darchinova forecast the situation to Realnoe Vremya.

Increase in tariffs for utilities

Starting from July 1, tariffs for utilities are changing in Russia. Before that, a large indexation of utility bills was carried out in 2022, and now, after almost a two-year break, the amounts in payments for water, electricity and gas supply will grow again.

Each region of the country has approved its own tariffs, but at the same time, the regions are guided by the limits set by the government. The authorities assure that the average increase in prices for utilities in Russia will be about 9.8%. In some settlements, the indexation may be higher, but not more than the limit value. In Tatarstan, tariffs will increase by an average of 10.8%, and the marginal index for individual entities will be 4.9%.

Sanitation services will rise in price the most — by 15.7%, on average to 33.81 rubles/cubic metre. Gas will increase in price by 11.2% to 7.47 rubles/cubic metre. The single-rate tariff for electricity supply will rise by 8.8% to 5.09 rubles/kWh, for the population in houses with electric stoves — up to 4.10 rubles/kWh, for the population in rural settlements — 3.57 rubles/kWh. The tariffs for heat and water supply are differentiated, one can get acquainted with them on the website of the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan on Tariffs.

Bank fees will be cancelled when paying for utilities

The rise in price of utilities will brighten up the exemption from paying a bank commission when paying for them. But only certain categories of citizens will have the opportunity to use this benefit:

• pensioners;

• combat veterans;

• adult members of large families;

• family members of the deceased participants of military operations and the Great Patriotic War, family members of deceased veterans with disabilities;

• people with disabilities.

The commission will not be charged not only when paying the main debt for utilities, but also in case of repayment of penalties. To take advantage of this opportunity, you need to present a document at the bank branch that confirms the right to benefits.

Salary increase for public sector employees

Pleasant news awaits state employees this month — in a number of regions of Russia, including Tatarstan, their salaries will be raised. The increase will be received primarily by employees in the field of education and healthcare, namely mentors, managers, teachers and healthcare workers.

The corresponding resolution with new tariffs and coefficients for calculating salaries of budget employees was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Tatarstan back in May. Changes in wages will affect employees of state institutions of the Republic of Tatarstan, whose salaries are calculated on the basis of a single tariff scale. In some cases, the income of these employees can grow by a quarter.

Vladimir Putin instructed to create a “new model” of remuneration for Russian state employees. In his message to the Federal Assembly, the head of state noted how important it is to solve the problem of wage inequality for workers in this sphere and indicated “to make a final decision for the whole country” by 2026.

Pension indexation

Certain categories of Russian pensioners, starting in July, will also receive an increase. Higher pension payments will be paid to:

• Russians who turned 80 in June. For them, the fixed payment to the insurance pension will increase. This year it amounts to 8134.88 rubles, and for people over the specified age it will double, that is, after the 80th birthday, the pensioner will begin to receive a fixed payment of 16268.66 rubles.

• Retired people who have finished their work. At the end of the employment contract, they need to submit an application to the Social Fund of Russia for recalculation of the pension. The payment will be indexed for the entire time that the citizen has worked.

• Military pensioners and their family members who permanently resided in the new regions of Russia on September 30, 2022 — LPR and DPR, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. This category of citizens will begin to receive pensions according to Russian standards.

Part of the payments will be assigned automatically, for example, when they reach the age of 80. But in other cases, pensioners will have to contact the branch of the Social Fund of Russia to recalculate or assign additional payments.

Funded pension assignment will be simplified

In Russia, the procedure for receiving the entire amount of a funded pension has changed. The payment was assigned according to the rule: the amount of monthly payment is 10% (or less) from the value of the federal living wage for a pensioner. This year, the federal living wage is equal to 13 290 rubles. To calculate, they take the accumulated amount on the pensioner's personal account and the post-retirement survival period according to government standards.

For example, if a pensioner has saved 300 thousand rubles, the monthly payment for 22 years will be 1136.36 rubles. Since this is less than the established limit, you can get the entire amount at a time.

Unemployment benefits will be recalculated

Since July, Russia has introduced a new procedure for calculating unemployment benefits. Now, data on all income of a citizen, and not only those for which pension contributions are accrued, will be used to assign payments.

Now, the average earnings that a citizen previously received before being registered with the employment center are used for calculation. Previously, three months were used in calculations, which preceded the calendar quarter before the month of applying to the employment centre.

From July 4, average earnings will be taken into account for the three months preceding the month before dismissal. The exception will be those discharged from military service by conscription.

If the employee had no income or took sick leave during the specified time, another calculation period within 12 calendar months will be applied to them. If they worked for less than one month, because they were on maternity leave, the employer will calculate the average earnings from the actual time worked.

Allowances for overly indebted borrowers

The huge debt load of Russians is of great concern to the Central Bank. Elvira Nabiullina's department is most concerned about the volume of loans issued to citizens at high interest rates, which increases the risks of non-repayments.

For this reason, the regulator decided to introduce increased premiums to the risk coefficients for car loans. The allowances will be extended to borrowers whose debt burden index exceeds 50%. In cases where the client has to pay more than half of his income for servicing loans and other mandatory payments, a risk premium will apply to them. In the eyes of the bank, such a borrower will look like a less profitable client, since he will have to put more resources on them in case of non-payment. The chances of loan approval in such a situation will decrease significantly. You will have to choose a more budget car or save more money for the down payment.

Macroprudential limits will be introduced for consumer loans. The loan portfolio of the bank of borrowers with a load of more than 50% should not exceed 20%.

Citizens will be reimbursed for money stolen by fraudsters

Since July 24, Russian banks have been obliged to reimburse the stolen money to the public if it was transferred without the voluntary consent of the client. But there are a number of conditions:

• if the bank allowed the transfer to a fraudulent account, which is in the special database of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation,

• did not send a notification to the client about the transfer,

• the customer lost the card and notified the bank about it.

In all these cases, the customer is compensated for the loss. The victim must apply to the bank for a refund, the stolen amount will be refunded within a month.

International passport will cost more

For residents of Russia who now want to issue a new type of passport, the document will cost more. From July 1, the cost of the state duty for the service will be increased:

• for adults — up to 6 thousand rubles;

• for children — up to 3 thousand rubles.

Some citizens had time to apply for a foreign passport before the designated date, the state duty cost them at the same rates. It is most convenient to apply for a document through the Gosuslugi platform or in the Multifunctional Public Services Center.

Strong alcohol will become more expensive

Drinks with a strength of more than 28 degrees fall under this category. Minimum prices for these alcoholic beverages will be updated, which stores and manufacturers must take into account:

• vodka — retail price is 299 rubles, wholesale — 246 rubles;

• cognac — price is retail 556 rubles, wholesale — 427 rubles;

• brandy — retail price is 403 rubles, wholesale — 311 rubles.

For alcohol with a volume of 0.5 liters and above, prices below these values, including VAT, cannot be set. Besides, hotels and restaurants with the sale of portion alcohol on their menus will transmit information about each sale to the USAIS.