The state customer did not increase the price of the contract after a long agreement - the courts collected an additional payment
The parties have signed a contract for major repairs. Materials became more expensive during execution, so the contractor offered to increase the price on a special basis. The customer checked and confirmed his arguments, but did not make a decision.
The contractor repeatedly asked when the parties would conclude an agreement to increase the contract price, but was told that the issue was still being considered. After the repair was completed, the customer did not change the price. The counterparty appealed to the court.
Three instances have collected an additional payment from the customer:
• The customer has been agreeing on a price increase for more than 8 months. When the repair was completed, it failed. This is an abuse of law. The contractor could have terminated the deal if he had been answered in time;
• The refusal to conclude an agreement was unmotivated. The customer rejected the counterparty's claim because of the comments on the paperwork, but did not ask them to be eliminated. The correctness of the calculations of the price increase was not disputed;
• maintaining the terms of the contract violated the balance of interests of the parties and led to negative consequences for the contractor. He legitimately demanded an additional payment.
In practice, there is an example when the courts did not support the contractor in a similar dispute, since, in particular, the contract has already been fulfilled. In this case, it is no longer possible to increase the contract price on a special basis.
Document: Resolution of the Arbitration Court of the Volga Region dated 11/27/2023 in case No. A12-33828/2022
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