Regulatory Accountability in the East Asia and Pacific Region

1
Regulatory Accountability in the East Asia and
Pacific Region

• Presentation on the Results of a Survey of EAPIRF
  Members

2
East Asia and Pacific Infrastructure Flagship
Study

• Connecting East Asia A New Framework for
  Infrastructure1
  
• On regulation
• Regulation plays an important role in the
  delivery of infrastructure services, particularly
  in sectors with limited competition
  
• The Regulators role is to hold service providers
  accountable for providing the service that
  consumers want
  
• Regulators too must be held accountable

1- Report prepared by The Asian Development
Bank, the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation and the World Bank

3
EAPIRF Accountability Survey

• Goal To identify accountability mechanisms used
  in the EAP region and how they are applied
  
• Participants 21 regulatory organizations
  completed the survey (9 from the Pacific and 12
  from Asia)
  
• Countries represented Kiribati, Fiji, Australia,
  Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Mongolia, the
  Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, China,
  Papua New Guinea, Singapore and Indonesia
• Sectors represented Energy (Oil Gas and
  Electricity), Water and Sanitation,
  Telecommunications and Transportation

4
EAPIRF Accountability Survey

• Questions grouped into 4 categories
• Appeals procedures and dispute resolution
• Justification of decisions
• Reporting
• Stakeholder consultation

5
Appeals Procedures and Dispute Resolution (1)

• Can regulatory decisions be challenged? 80
  percent allowed challenges while 20 did not
  
• Reasons to challenge legality, transparency and
  fairness (in competition or tariffs)

6
Appeals Procedures and Dispute Resolution (2)

• Established procedures
• Appeals procedures covered in Sector Act or civil
  law
  
• In almost 50 of the cases there is no
  established appeals procedure
  
• Who hears the appeal? Courts (12), Expert Panel
  (8), Arbitration or Appeals Panel (7)
  

7
Appeals Procedures and Dispute Resolution (3)

• How many regulatory decisions have been appealed
  in last 2 years?

• How many levels of appeal are allowed? Generally
  between one and three levels
  
• Other Generally 2 or 3 levels of appeals
• NA Not Available

8
Appeals Procedures and Dispute Resolution (4)

• Who challenges Regulators decisions? Service
  providers (16), consumers (8), and the government
  (3)
  
• Other Respondents who couldnt answer the
  question because they never faced this situation
  

• Are alternate dispute resolution mechanisms used?

9
Justification of Decisions (1)

• Guidelines publication Respondents indicated
  that in many cases (74) the regulator was
  required by law to publish guidelines on its
  decision making
• Average frequency of the guidelines publication
  Frequent but depends on the kind of document
  being published
  
• NA Not Available

10
Justification of Decisions (2)

• Public justification of the decisions Publish
  justification 86 of the time
  
• NA Not Available

• Publication of decisions The decisions taken by
  the regulator are published 90 of the time
  
• NA Not Available

11
Reporting (1)

• Compulsory reporting All respondents said that
  regulator is required by law/regulation/government
  rule to reports on its activities
  
• The regulator reports in most cases to
  Government Ministry, second to Parliament,
  Congress or Legislature, and third to Other
  bodies
• Other The Cabinet (in the Water sector in
  Fiji), the Public Service Commission (in
  transportation in the Republic of Vanuatu), the
  Prime Minister (telecommunication in Mongolia),
  the MWSS Board of Trustees (water in the
  Philippines) and the public (energy, water and
  transportation sectors in Australia).

12
Reporting (2)

• Content of reports The main decisions the
  regulator has taken, its activities (financial,
  policy, administrational, operational,
  technical) and general facts and data on the
  concerned sector
• Report Frequency Most regulator are required to
  report annually. But some must also report
  bi-annually, quarterly or even monthly
  
• Other When required.
• NA Not Available

13
Stakeholder Consultation (1)

• Public Hearings/meetings Regulator required to
  hold public meeting 83 of the time. In many
  Pacific countries, public hearings were not
  required

• Type of consultation process In both East Asia
  and the Pacific, the kinds of consultation
  process required are first Public Meetings, then
  Public consultations and finally Public hearings
• NA Not Available

14
Stakeholder Consultation (2)

• Reasons for public hearings Required when there
  are important changes, such as changes in
  regulations, rules, procedures, license issue or
  a tariff determination
• People who attend the meetings Attendees to
  meetings include all concerned stakeholders
  (affected parties)
  
• Written Submission In East Asia, participants
  are generally not required (64 of the time) to
  provide a written submission of their comments
  before the session. In the Pacific, it is
  required 74 of the time