Intercom Fee in Armenia: Who Pays and How to Collect
The short version: Armenia's law is silent on the intercom but provides a mechanism for "other payments". Every owner shares in the cost of maintaining the property in proportion to their share, the assembly sets the amount and deadlines, and the money goes cashless to a separate account for the building. The safest way to introduce an intercom charge is an assembly decision and a separate bill line.
This covers the case where the building's management body collects the fee. A separate service company working under its own contracts with residents is outside this article.
Whose equipment is it
Article 6 of the Law "On Management of a Multi-Apartment Building" (ՀՕ-334) puts into the owners' common share ownership, among other things, "mechanical, electrical, sanitary-technical and other equipment and areas" serving more than one premises. The intercom is not named. An entrance intercom serves several owners and can be read as "other equipment": that is a reading of the text, not a direct rule.
Who pays
"Each owner of common share property must, in proportion to their share, take part in the costs of carrying out the mandatory norms, taxes, duties and other payments, as well as in other costs of maintaining and operating the property" (art. 9, para. 2; our translation). Not using the premises does not release an owner from the costs of carrying out the mandatory norms (art. 9, para. 4); whether the intercom is one of them is the same disputed question as for the court provision of art. 10, para. 5. A tenant is not named in these provisions; how a tenant settles with the owner depends on their agreement.
Who sets the amount
The owners' assembly decides. It sets the size and deadlines of the mandatory "and other" payments established by this law and collected from owners (art. 11, para. 7, sub-para. ժդ) and approves the annual budget (sub-para. ժէ). The budget may include "other expenses approved by the assembly" (art. 29, para. 4), and it can be changed during the year only by an assembly decision (art. 29, para. 1). These decisions need more than half of the votes (art. 11, para. 8). The law sets no rate and no ceiling for an intercom.
Note art. 9, para. 3: unnecessary expenses made without the owners' consent in the prescribed manner are not reimbursed by the owners. An intercom charge without an assembly decision lands in exactly that risk zone.
The disputed point: "mandatory norms" and the court
The court provision of art. 10, para. 5 concerns payments for the mandatory norms: after two late payments the management body may apply to court, having first warned the debtor in writing. The list of mandatory norms in art. 10, para. 2 covers fire-safety, sanitary and urban-planning measures, utility servicing, servicing of postal cabinets "and other measures". The intercom is not named. The mandatory norms are set by the Government (art. 10, para. 2), and Decision N 1161-Ն (the service standard for the mandatory norms) does not mention an intercom, which points against including it. The law still does not say whether it falls under "other measures", so the question remains disputed. So for an intercom, fix the basis of the payment by an assembly decision (art. 11, para. 7, sub-para. ժդ) rather than relying on art. 10, para. 5 alone.
How to collect: the building's account and a line
Since 1 April 2020 mandatory and other payments are made cashless, to a bank account opened in the management body's name "for each multi-apartment building separately" (art. 15.1, para. 1). Under the 2022 rules a payment counts as cashless if it is initiated in cash or cashless form and directed to the payee's bank account. Any owner may obtain a statement of the account's transactions from its holder.
In practice:
- The intercom as its own line on every flat's payment document, with the amount and the number of the assembly decision.
- The payment goes to that building's account and is matched to the flat.
- A change in the amount is recorded in a new assembly decision or budget, not in a letter.
How Unitify does it
Unitify billing builds charges by category: per flat, per square meter, per resident or as a fixed sum. The intercom goes on each flat's bill as its own line, payments are matched per flat, and residents see the bill in the app. Flitt is Unitify's integrated payment acquirer, already working in the Caucasus (verified in Georgia); IDram, Telcell, EasyPay and ArCa are payment organizations licensed by the Central Bank of Armenia, not connected Unitify integrations. If the entrances have an intercom with an integration interface (API, SIP), we connect it on request as a project: separate work on your equipment.
See Unitify for Armenia and pricing, or book a demo.
Sources: Law ՀՕ-334 of the Republic of Armenia on management of a multi-apartment building, arts. 6, 9, 10, 11, 15.1, 29, current consolidation at arlis.am/hy/acts/223635; Government decision N 2078-Ն (17.12.2020) as amended by N 502-Ն (15.04.2022), arlis.am/hy/acts/162044; Government decision N 1161-Ն (04.10.2007), arlis.am/hy/acts/172039. Checked 11 October 2026; recheck the current edition before an assembly vote.
Frequently asked questions
Does Armenia's building management law name the intercom?
No. The word "intercom" (domofon) does not appear. Common share ownership covers, among other things, "mechanical, electrical, sanitary-technical and other equipment and areas" serving more than one premises (art. 6 of Law ՀՕ-334). The text does not say in terms that an entrance intercom is "other equipment"; that is a reading, not a rule.
Who pays for the intercom?
Each owner must take part, in proportion to their share, in the costs of the mandatory norms, taxes, duties and other payments, and in other costs of maintaining and operating the property (art. 9, para. 2). Not using the premises does not release an owner from the costs of carrying out the mandatory norms (art. 9, para. 4); whether the intercom is one of them is disputed.
Who sets the intercom charge?
The owners' assembly. It sets the size and deadlines of the mandatory "and other" payments established by this law and collected from owners (art. 11, para. 7, sub-para. ժդ) and approves the annual budget (sub-para. ժէ). The budget may include "other expenses approved by the assembly" (art. 29, para. 4). These decisions need more than half of the votes (art. 11, para. 8).
What if a cost is introduced without an assembly decision?
The law says unnecessary expenses made by an owner, the management body, the community or another person without the owners' consent in the prescribed manner are not reimbursed by the owners (art. 9, para. 3).
Cash or cashless?
Mandatory and other payments are made cashless, by transfer to a bank account opened in the management body's name for each building separately (art. 15.1, para. 1). Under the 2022 rules a payment counts as cashless if it is initiated in cash or cashless form and directed to the payee's bank account.
Can the intercom fee be recovered through the court?
The court provision in art. 10, para. 5 speaks of payments for the mandatory norms (fire, sanitary, urban-planning, utility service and "other measures"; art. 10, para. 2). The intercom is not listed. The mandatory norms are set by the Government (art. 10, para. 2) and Decision N 1161-Ն does not mention an intercom, which points against including it. Whether it falls under "other measures" is still disputed, so the basis of the payment is best fixed by an assembly decision.