From Ramakrishna Nallathiga, Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad
Posted 31 March 2009
The Centre for Good Governance is a public non-profit organization set up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh under the DfID-funded programme of service delivery improvement. Currently, we are working on a project aimed at providing guidelines for the levy of user charges in four major civic services, water supply, sewerage/sanitation, and solid waste management.
Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) already levy a charge on the provision of certain services, particularly water supply, albeit at a very low rate. The remaining two services - sewerage/sanitation and solid waste management - face more difficulties as no charges are currently levied. Municipalities find it difficult to provide these services unless voluntary, local organizations take up the job of collection and transportation (especially in the case of solid waste management).
The water charges levied by public utilities are often inadequate to cover the costs of operation and maintenance. This raises the question of the long term sustainability of the service on the one hand. On the other, the pricing of water is contested from several perspectives and some even say it is not possible to price water due to the political compulsions of decision-making in municipal councils.
In this regard I would like to request members provide information on the following:
- What are the guiding principles and tools for ULBs to use while working out user charges?
- How can access to the poor be addressed within a cost-recovery framework for these services?
- Please provide experiences of how these services have been provided more costeffectively and/or with the help of community organizations
- How can the financial and overall sustainability of these services be improved? Please give examples where this has been achieved.
Your responses will help us in formulating the guidelines for the levy of user charges in civic services.
Please see attachment below for the responses.