Main tasks of the Committee for regulation of natural monopolies of the Ministry of national economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the committee):
achieving a balance of interests of consumers and natural monopoly entities (hereinafter referred to as SEM);
determining the legal basis for state regulation of activities in the areas of natural monopolies;
ensuring the availability of regulated services for consumers;
ensuring protection of the interests of consumers and SEM;
ensuring transparency and transparency of procedures for state regulation of activities in the areas of natural monopolies;
promotion of improving the quality of regulated services and meeting the demand for them.
These tasks are implemented through the implementation of the state policy of tariff setting in the spheres of natural monopolies, as well as the implementation of State price regulation and control over compliance with the pricing procedure and obligations of socially significant market entities.
The main purpose of the tariff policy conducted by the committee is to attract investments in the sphere of natural monopolies to renew and modernize fixed assets, ensure energy saving and increase energy efficiency, reduce regulatory technical losses and improve the quality of services.
State regulation of activities in the sphere of natural monopolies in accordance with Article 6 of the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 27, 2018" on natural monopolies " (hereinafter referred to as the law) :
Formation of the State Register of SEM;
formation, establishment and approval of the tariff;
determination of methods of tariff regulation of natural monopolies;
Consent of SEM to the commission of certain actions, as well as acceptance of a notification from a natural monopoly entity on the implementation of activities that do not relate to regulated services in accordance with the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "on permits and notifications";
5) formation of a list of regulated services.
Tariff setting procedure
The tariff setting process consists of the following steps::
Submission of an application for approval of the SEM tariff and investment program;
consideration of the application for tariff approval;
holding public hearings to discuss the draft tariff;
approval of the tariff.
In accordance with the law, SEM submits an application for approval of the tariff for regulated services for consideration by the authorized body in cases and in accordance with the procedure established by the authorized body.
When approving tariffs, the authorized body is guided by the legislation in the field of natural monopolies, according to which only economically justified costs directly incurred in servicing tariffs are included.
At the same time, a prerequisite for approving tariffs is the presence of an investment program aimed at expanding, restoring, modernizing, maintaining existing assets, reconstructing fixed assets, Technical re-equipment, and creating new assets.
In turn, SEM investment programs are approved by the authorized body together with the relevant industry state and local executive bodies.
In order to ensure transparency and transparency of tariff setting when considering applications, public hearings are held before consumers with the mandatory invitation of Deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, maslikhats, representatives of local self-government bodies, state bodies, consumers and their public associations, independent experts, representatives of the mass media and SEM.
Each consumer has the right to participate in public hearings.
At the same time, after the SEM participant in the public hearing publishes information on the date of the public hearing:
draft tariff estimates and tariffs for regulated services;
request information on the reasons for the increase in tariffs with economically justified reports on regulated services.
The SEM is obliged to provide a detailed explanation and justification for the level of tariffs offered for regulated services provided at public hearings.
Also, public hearings will allow consumers to directly ask all the questions of interest to the monopolist on the level of the draft tariff.
In addition, the legislation provides for annual reports of SEM to consumers.
Thus, no later than August 1 of the current calendar year and May 1 of the next calendar year, the SEM is obliged to keep reports on the implementation of the approved tariff estimates for the first half of the year and the year, on the implementation of the approved investment program, compliance with the quality and reliability indicators of regulated services and the achievement of performance indicators of SEM services to consumers and other interested parties.
In cases of deviation of the cost items of the tariff estimate by more than 5% from the approved amount, improper use of the depreciation deductions provided for in the tariff estimate, illegal increase of the tariff or failure to implement the investment program, the authorized body compensates consumers for the losses caused by the SEM by approving a temporary compensatory tariff for SEM.
Methods of tariff regulation
When forming tariffs, the following methods of tariff regulation are used:
1) cost-effective;
2) incentives;
3) indexing;
4) determination of the tariff on the basis of the concluded Public-Private Partnership Agreement, including the concession agreement.
"In order to increase the transparency and transparency of the spheres of natural monopolies, the Committee introduced new approaches to tariff formation, in particular, through the service software product" "monopolist base "" switched to electronic form of submission of applications and reports of SEM."
Also, in order to ensure the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of consumers, the Council on tariff policy was established on the Committee – a consultative advisory body for discussion and development of proposals for the development of the main directions of state regulation policy in the field of natural monopolies.
The committee is aware of all the social significance of tariff regulation, in this regard, it is working to ensure transparency and transparency of the tariff regulation process.