Today, utilities can be paid not only through the banks, but also through post offices and terminals. And no one even recalls paying for services directly to the contractor in the office. Legislation regarding intermediaries of banking services has not changed for a long time. But the participants in the transaction still have a lot of questions.
Essence
Amendments to the legislation allowed credit organizations to expand their presence in the regions and create an additional communication channel - a bank payment agent. This has helped to improve the quality and flexibility of services. Let us consider in more detail what this intermediary does.
According to the Federal Law "On Banking", a payment agent is a person who accepts funds for payment of goods and services by individuals in order to credit them to a bank account. According to the same document, the agent could carry out operations with plastic payment instruments.
After making amendments to the Federal Law "On the National Payment System", the agents' functionality has expanded. Now they can:
- give money to customers;
- attract subagents;
- identify payers without opening an account;
- conduct operations with electronic means of payment.
Thus, now a bank payment agent is a legal entity (IP), which, on the basis of an agreement with a credit institution, participates in the provision of banking services, accepts and pays out monetary funds of individuals for their obligations.
Activities
To better understand what the activities of a payment agent are, you need to introduce a number of concepts:
- a supplier is an IP, an organization that receives funds for goods sold and services sold;
- payer - consumer of services;
- payment agent is an intermediary that accepts payments from individuals (UK).
An intermediary may engage an operator and a subagent to carry out its activities. They are also involved in receiving payments, but they are already signing a contract with an agent.
Responsibility
The legislation provides for the imposition of certain obligations on agents, on the fulfillment of which the security of payments depends. Here are some of them:
- the agent can carry out activities only after signing the contract;
- the operator must register with Rosfinmonitoring;
- when accepting payments, an account is opened, which is used to complete the transaction;
- the bank cannot act as a subagent or operator.
Score
A special agent account is not used for all transactions. Its owner can write off funds only for certain purposes, but also a forced collection is also not carried out. That is, it serves as a transit between an individual and the owner’s bank account. From the operator’s special account, funds are transferred to the client and directly to the intermediary in terms of remuneration. The subagent transfers the money to the operator and the supplier. The paying agent is required to instantly transfer funds to the account. For violation of this requirement, he faces a fine of 50 thousand rubles.
Consider the typical schemes by which the services of a payment agent are implemented.
Scheme 1
The agent entered into an agreement for the transfer of utility bills through a network of terminals. To accrue collection and distribution of documents, the management company (UK) brought in a single settlement center (ERCC) with its own cash desk. ERRC signed an agreement with an intermediary owning a network of terminals.
Since the Criminal Code is an agent, it is required to open a special account. Funds from the ERRC will be transferred to it. Then the money will be transferred to the resource supplying organization (RSO), and from there to the counterparties. ERCC, as an operator, must also open an account. He does not have the right to transfer funds immediately to the RNO. You need to act only through the Criminal Code. The owner of the terminals in this scheme acts as a subagent. The remuneration of all intermediaries is prescribed in the contract with the service provider. And consumers need to be notified that a commission is charged for the transfer of funds.
Scheme 2
A paying agent is an intermediary between individuals and utilities, which acts on the basis of an agreement. The decision of the management made the decision that the fee for services provided in apartment buildings (MKD) is immediately transferred to the bank account. An individual can pay through terminals.
The payment agent in this scheme is an agent for transferring funds from all payers, except residents of MKD. Only one operator at a time can accept payments separately under an agreement with the UK and the OSS. The commission of the intermediary makes a reservation with each supplier separately.
Scheme 3
Under the contract of supply, the Criminal Code acts as an agent of the owners of the MKD. She receives service fees from consumers. They pay the costs of transactions. In this scheme, UK is a provider of banking services. The operator must transfer funds to the agent’s account. There is no agreement on cooperation between the Criminal Code and the RNO . Therefore, all funds must be immediately transferred to the utilities account.
Scheme 4
The UK provides services for the maintenance of property in a residential building. The owners concluded an agreement with the ERRC on the transfer of payments. The management company receives payment for property repairs and utilities. The second part is immediately transferred to the RNO. The remuneration of ERRC must be paid by both suppliers (UK and RNO).
Banks
Credit organizations cannot act as payment acceptance operators. But they provide a non-cash transfer service from individuals without opening an account. Based on the client’s order, the bank draws up a payment order. The document must indicate all the details and purpose of payment. The maximum transfer amount is limited to acceptable within the framework of cashless payments. Separately from the transfer amount, an intermediary commission is paid.
Differences
Thus, there are two operations: receiving payments and transferring funds. The difference between them is purely legal. Acceptance of payments is carried out on the basis of an agreement with the RNO or with the consumer. Payers contact the agent with a request to transfer funds to the housing and communal services account. If an agreement is concluded between the RNO and the UK, the agent accepts the payment. The transfer of funds is carried out at the request of the payer for the specified details.
Controversial issues
The managing director of MKD signed an agreement on the transfer of payments with the operator and the bank (regarding the exchange of information data). Whose details should be indicated on the receipt? The payment must contain the account number of the service provider. If the details of the special account are indicated in the document, the bank will not be able to transfer funds.
Scheme 5
The manager of the MKD concluded a contract with a telecommunications service provider to raise funds for using an antenna that is not part of collective property. In the receipt from the housing and communal services, this amount is displayed in a separate line. Money is accepted both through the bank and through the agent. In this scheme, the management company and the service provider must use special accounts to complete the transaction.
However, the Federal Law on Payment Agents does not apply to cashless transactions. Therefore, if the consumer transfers from his account, then the funds go to the management company, which already repays the debt to the telecom operator. These two points must be specified separately in the contract.
Conclusion
Accepting utility bills through intermediaries imposes some responsibilities on agents. For example, maintain a separate account for all transactions. If the UK accepts payments for the RNO services through its own cash desks or through another intermediary, then it itself becomes an agent. If there are no intermediaries in transactions, then consumers can pay for services through banks. There is no need to conclude a separate contract for this purpose. But banks are interested in receiving remuneration. Therefore, for a fee they provide information services.