More Than 12 Million Users Join Residential Chats in MAX Messenger
The tie-up between a national messenger, government digital services, and housing utilities is emerging as one of the largest digitalization efforts in Russia.
Interaction between residents, property management companies, and public housing services has reached a new scale in a digital environment. In the national messenger MAX, more than 11,300 official channels and chats have been created by management companies and utility providers, while over 12.3 million users have already joined residential chats. In parallel, the Ministry of Construction has launched a digital assistant that reminds residents to submit meter readings and pay utility bills.
Starting April 1, residents can use a chatbot to send requests directly to their property management company. From September 1, housing and utilities organizations will be required to interact with residents through MAX and publish mandatory information there, including contact details, operating hours, and dispatcher and emergency service data. Utility providers will also be required to share updates on service disruptions and outages. This creates a large-scale distribution channel for government digital services, while giving residents faster and more accessible ways to connect with service providers through a familiar messaging platform.
Reality or Formality?
Residential chats in MAX are likely to evolve beyond neighbor discussions into an official service channel. The announced features could logically expand to include repair requests and emergency notifications. In practice, these chats may also integrate payment services, homeowner meetings, voting mechanisms, and GIS-based housing services.
The main uncertainty is whether these chats can become a genuinely functional tool rather than a formal requirement. This will depend on whether residents actually use the official channel, whether response times from management companies improve, and whether it becomes easier to track requests and accountability. It also remains unclear whether the new services will duplicate the Gosuslugi Dom application and other communication channels. If successful, this combination of a national messenger, government digital infrastructure, and housing services could attract interest from other countries, particularly within the CIS and EAEU.
From Standalone Platforms to Integration
Even before the large-scale rollout of MAX, Russia had already developed digital urban services. For example, Moscow’s platform Elektronny dom (Electronic Home) allows residents to hold online homeowner meetings, submit maintenance requests, report meter readings, pay for utilities, and communicate with neighbors in both private and building-wide chats.
In addition, the Gosuslugi Dom (Public Services Home) application began scaling in 2023. It allows users to access property data, manage bills, and interact with building services. According to the Ministry of Construction, more than 5 million Russians were using the app by summer 2024, rising to over 10 million by May 2025. In other words, when residential communication began shifting into MAX in late 2025, the system was building on an already established digital foundation.
Russia’s model combines government digital identity, residential services, and a messaging platform within a single ecosystem. This is its key distinction from international counterparts, which typically operate as fragmented local platforms.
Growing Demand for IT Solutions
Mass everyday interaction between residents and housing services is being steadily transferred into an official digital environment. This is expected to drive demand in Russia’s IT market, particularly for digital identity systems, integration of messaging platforms with government infrastructure, chatbot development, request automation, PropTech solutions for multi-unit housing, and analytics.
By 2026, the MAX-based interaction model is likely to expand nationwide and become mandatory. Residential chats are expected to move beyond notifications into full-service operations. At the same time, the project’s real-world effectiveness will be tested. If residents find it easier to resolve everyday issues and management companies can service buildings more efficiently and at lower cost, the integration of MAX, housing services, and government digital platforms could become one of the most widespread digitalization models in Russia.
