Subject of the Contract and Payment Under the Hot Water Supply Agreement

For several decades, disputes between power supply organizations and consumers about payment for the hot water had been taken place. The courts had alternately supported the position of each of the parties of the contract. However, the situation was changed in 2017 by the Decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which mentioned new and contradictory ideas connected with the hot water supply agreement. In particular, it claims that thermal energy in hot water is not a public service. Therefore, from the legal point of view the thermal energy, which is a hot water component, and the thermal energy used in heat supply are different concepts. All these factors lead to consequences that complicate the situation connected with hot water supply relations and their regulation. The research examines the concept of the hot water supply agreement and its subject, which includes quality, volume, feed rate and equipment, parties of the contract and payment under it. As a result, the comparative legal analysis of the hot water supply legislation is given to amend and alter it. Moreover, the concept of hot water is revealed in this paper in terms of jurisprudence. The research is mainly focused on the consideration of the parties of the contract and the subject of the contract; the last of these features includes the answer to the question whether thermal energy is a public service or not. The significant part of the study is dedicated to payment under the hot water supply agreement; that is why questions about tariff application and determination of consumed thermal energy are revealed there. Moreover, it is analysed if either the standard or the meter reading should be used to pay for hot water. Finally, various solutions to the hot water supply agreement issues are provided there.