Advanced Search

Whereby The Regime Of Public Services Is Established And Dictate Other Provisions

Original Language Title: Por la cual se establece el régimen de los servicios públicos domiciliarios y se dictan otras disposiciones

Subscribe to a Global-Regulation Premium Membership Today!

Key Benefits:

Subscribe Now for only USD$40 per month.

Next

ACT 142 OF 1994

(July 11)

Official Journal No. 41,433 of 11 July 1994

HOME PUBLIC SERVICES

by which the regime of home public services is established and other provisions are dictated.

THE CONGRESS OF COLOMBIA,

DECRETA:

PRELIMINARY TITLE

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

ARTICLE 1o. LAW ENFORCEMENT. < *See Notes of Vigency, in relation to the underlined texts > This Law applies to the public services of aqueduct, sewerage, toilet, electrical energy, distribution of gas fuel, fixed basic public telephony and mobile local telephony in the rural sector *; to the activities carried out by the public service providers concerned by the article 15 of the present Law, and the complementary activities defined in Chapter II of this Title and to the other services provided for in special rules of this Law.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 2o. STATE INTERVENTION IN PUBLIC SERVICES. The State will intervene in the public services, in accordance with the competition rules of this Law, in the framework of the provisions of the articles 334, href="policy_constitution_1991_pr011.html#336"> 336, and 365, to 370 of the Political Constitution, for the following purposes:

2.1. Ensure the quality of the public service well and its final disposition to ensure the improvement of the quality of life of the users.

2.2. Permanent extension of the coverage by means of systems that compensate for the inadequacy of the users ' ability to pay.

2.3. Priority attention to the unmet basic needs for drinking water and basic sanitation.

2.4. Continuous and uninterrupted provision, without any exception, except where there are reasons of force majeure or fortuitous or technical or economic circumstances which so require.

2.5. Efficient delivery.

2.6. Freedom of competition and misuse of the dominant position.

2.7. Obtaining verifiable economies of scale.

2.8. Mechanisms to guarantee users access to services and their participation in the management and supervision of their services.

2.9. Establish a proportional tariff regime for low-income sectors in accordance with the principles of equity and solidarity.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 3o. INSTRUMENTS OF STATE INTERVENTION. They constitute instruments for state intervention in public services, all the powers and functions assigned to the entities, authorities and bodies involved in this Law, especially the relating to the following matters:

3.1. Promotion and support for people providing public services.

3.2. Management and procurement of resources for the provision of services.

3.3. Regulation of the provision of public services taking into account the characteristics of each region; setting of targets for efficiency, coverage and quality, assessment of the targets, and definition of the tariff regime.

3.4. Monitoring and monitoring of compliance with the rules and plans and programmes on the subject.

3.5. Organization of information systems, training and technical assistance.

3.6. Protection of natural resources.

3.7. Granting subsidies to people with lower incomes.

3.8. Stimulus to the investment of private individuals in public services.

3.9. With regard to the principle of neutrality, in order to ensure that there is no discriminatory practice in the provision of services.

All the decisions of the authorities in the field of public services must be based on the reasons that determine this Law; and the reasons that invoke it must be verifiable.

All providers will be subject, in what is not incompatible with the Constitution or with the law, to all that this Law has for companies and their administrators and, in particular, to the regulations of the Commissions, to the control, inspection and surveillance of the Superintendence of Public Services, and the contributions for those and the latter.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 4. ESSENTIAL PUBLIC SERVICES. For the purposes of the correct application of the first paragraph of Article 56 of the Political Constitution of Colombia, all public services, which deals with the This Law shall be considered as essential public services.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 5o. JURISDICTION OF THE MUNICIPALITIES IN RESPECT OF THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC SERVICES. It is the competence of the municipalities in relation to the public services, which will exercise in the terms of the law, and of the regulations that subject to it they issue the councils:

5.1. < *See Notes of Vigency, in relation to the underlined texts > Ensure that their inhabitants are provided efficiently with the home services of aqueduct, sewerage, toilet, electrical energy, and basic public telephony commuted *, by public service undertakings of an official, private or mixed nature, or directly by the central administration of the respective municipality in the cases provided for in the following Article.

5.2. To ensure in the terms of this Law, the participation of the users in the management and control of the entities that provide the public services in the municipality.

5.3. To provide grants to users of lower income, from the municipality's budget, in accordance with the provisions of Law 60/93 and this Law.

5.4. Stratify residential buildings in accordance with the methodologies outlined by the National Government.

5.5. To establish in the municipality a precise numerical alpha nomenclature, which allows to individualize each predium to which the public services are to be given.

5.6. Support with investments and other instruments described in this Law to utilities promoted by the departments and the Nation to carry out the activities of their competition.

5.7. The others who assign them the law.

Political Constitution; Art. 311; Art. 366; Art. 367

Act 1625 of 2013, Art. 6or. Lit. b)

Act 1454 of 2011; Art. 14

Act 1450 of 2011; Art. 12

Act 1176 of 2007; Art. 4o, Inc. 6o, Par. Inc. 2o; Art. 12; Art. 19

Act 715 of 2001, Art. 88

Law 617 of 2000, Art. 18

1998 Law 489, Art. 94; Art 95

Act 388 of 1997; art. 7, number 3 lit c); art. 8; art. 13, numeral 2; art. 14, numeral 6; art. 15, numeral 1.2; art. 17; art. 18, numeral 2.1; art. 19, numeral 4; art. 32; art. 34 ; art. 35; art. 39; art. 51; art. 58, literal d); art. 63; art. 93; art. 112; art. 113

Act 142 of 1994; art. 3; art. 7; art. 14; art. 15; art. 17; art. 24; art. 53; art. 62; art. 65; art. 81; art. 166; art. 187

Law 136 of 1994; art. 1; art. 3

Act 128 of 1994; art. 4, numeral 2; art. 14, literal d)

1993 99 Act

Act 60, 1993; art. 1; art. 2, numeral 5; art. 5; art. 30 (Repealed)

Single Decree 1077 of 2015; Art. 2.2.6.2.3; Chapter 2.3.2.2; Art. 2.3.4.1.4.15; Chapter 2.3.4.3; Art. 2.3.5.1.2.2.17 Num. 8th.

Single Decree 1073 of 2015; Art. 2.2.3.2.3.2

Decree 2220 of 2008, 2o.  

Decree 1421 of 1993; art. 163; art. 164; art. 165; art. 166; art. 167; art. 168; art. 173

Resolution CRA 11 of 1996; art. 5 (Repealed)

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 6o. DIRECT PROVISION OF SERVICES BY THE MUNICIPALITIES. The municipalities shall directly provide the public services of their competence, where the technical and economic characteristics of the service, and the general conveniences so permit and advise, which will be understood to occur in the following cases:

6.1. When, having made the municipalities public invitation to the utilities, there has been no company to offer it;

6.2. When, not having companies offered to provide the service, and having made the municipalities public invitation to other municipalities, to the Department of which they do part, to the Nation and other public or private persons to organize a utility company that provides it, there has not been a proper response;

6.3. Where, even if there are undertakings wishing to provide the service, there are studies approved by the Superintendent showing that the costs of direct benefit to the municipality would be lower than those of the undertakings concerned, and that the quality and Attention for the user would be, at least, equal to those that such companies could offer. Regulatory Commissions will establish methodologies to make comparable service delivery costs comparable.

6.4. Where the municipalities assume the direct provision of a public service, the general accounting of the municipality must be separated from that which is carried out for the provision of the service; and if it provides more than one service, that of each one must be independent of Of the other. In addition, their accounts shall distinguish between the revenue and expenditure related to that activity, and the tax or non-tax income they obtain as political authorities, in such a way that the provision of the services is subject to the the same rules that would apply to other public service providers.

In the event provided for in the previous paragraph, the municipalities and their authorities will be subject, in what is not incompatible with the Constitution or with the law itself, to all that this Law has for businesses and their administrators and, in special, to the regulations of the Commissions and to the control, inspection, surveillance and contributions of the Superintendence of public services and the Commissions. But the councils will determine if a board is required for the municipality to directly provide the services and, if so, it will be composed as provided by article 27 of this law.

When a municipality directly provides one or more public services and fails to comply with the quality standards required by the Regulatory Commissions in general, or suspend the payment of its obligations, or have adequate accounting after two years of entering into force this Law or, in short, it violates in serious form the obligations that it contains, the Superintendent, in defense of the users and to protect the health and welfare of the community, in addition to sanctioning the mayors and administrators, may invite, after consultation of the respective committee, when they are satisfied, utility to ensure that the service is provided, and to impose an easement on the necessary municipal property, so that it can operate.

According to article 336 of the Political Constitution, authorization for a municipality to provide public services directly will not be used, if any, to constitute a a monopoly on law.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 7o. COMPETENCE OF DEPARTMENTS FOR THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC SERVICES. They are of competence of departments in relation to public services, the following functions of support and coordination, which shall be exercised in the terms of the law, and of the regulations that subject to it the assemblies are issued:

7.1. To ensure that the activities of electric power transmission are provided on its territory, by official, mixed or private companies.

7.2. To provide financial, technical and administrative support to utilities operating in the Department or to municipalities that have assumed the direct benefit, as well as to companies organized with the participation of the Nation or the Departments to develop the functions of their competition in the field of public services.

7.3. To organise systems for the coordination of public service providers and to promote, when technical and economic reasons, the organisation of associations of municipalities for the provision of public services, or the conclusion of the of inter-administrative conventions for the same purpose.

7.4. The others who assign them the law.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 8o. THE NATION ' S COMPETENCE FOR THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC SERVICES. It's competition from the Nation:

8.1. In a proprietary way, plan, assign, manage and control the use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

8.2. In a private way, to plan, allocate and manage the use of the fuel gas as soon as it is economically and technically possible, through official, mixed or private companies.

8.3. < *See Notes of Vigence, in relation to the underlined texts > Ensure that they are carried out in the country, by means of official, mixed or private companies, the activities of generation and interconnection to the national electricity , interconnection of the public telecommunications network *, and the activities of marketing, construction and operation of pipelines and networks for other services arising from technological development and requiring interconnection networks, Previous concept of the National Council for Economic and Social Policy.

8.4. Support financially, technically and administratively to utilities or municipalities that have assumed the direct benefit, as well as to companies organized with the participation of the Nation or the Departments to develop the functions of its competition in the field of public services and to undertakings whose capital is mainly owned by one or more cooperative cooperatives or associations of a cooperative nature.

8.5. Ensure that those who provide public services comply with the standards for protection, conservation or, when required, the recovery of natural or environmental resources that are used in the generation, production, transportation and final disposal of such services.

8.6. To provide directly when the departments and municipalities do not have sufficient capacity, the services covered by this Law.

8.7. The others who assign the law to him.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 9o. USER RIGHT. Users of public services are entitled, in addition to those enshrined in the National User Statute and other rules that enshrine rights in their favor, [provided they do not contradict this law, to]:

9.1. To obtain from the companies the measurement of their real consumption by appropriate technological instruments, within deadlines and terms that for the purposes the regulatory commission, with attention to the technical and financial capacity of the enterprises or the categories of municipalities established by law.

9.2. The free choice of the service provider and the supplier of the goods necessary for obtaining or using them.

9.3. Obtain the goods and services offered in quality or quantity superior to those provided in a massive way, provided that this does not harm third parties and that the user assumes the corresponding costs.

9.4. Request and obtain complete, accurate and timely information on all direct or indirect activities and operations for the provision of public services, provided that such information is not qualified as secret or reserved by the law and the requirements and conditions that the Superintendence of Public Services of Domicile are satisfied.

PARAGRAFO. [The Commissions of Regulations], the exercise of the functions conferred by the rules in force, will not be able to improve the rights of the users recognized by the law.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 10. FREEDOM OF ENTERPRISE. It is the right of all persons to organize and operate companies that are intended to provide public services within the limits of the Constitution and the law.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 11. THE SOCIAL FUNCTION OF THE PROPERTY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS. To fulfill the social function of the property, public or private, the entities that provide public services have the following obligations:

11.1. Ensure that the service is provided in a continuous and efficient manner, and without abuse of the dominant position that the entity may have in front of the user or third parties.

11.2. To refrain from monopolistic or restrictive practices in competition, where there is in fact the possibility of competition.

11.3. Make it easier for users of lower income to access the subsidies granted by the authorities.

11.4. Inform users about how to use the respective public service with efficiency and security.

11.5. To comply with its ecological function, for which, and as long as its activity affects them, they will protect the diversity and integrity of the environment, and will preserve the areas of special ecological importance, reconciling these objectives with the need to increase the coverage and the cost of services by the community.

11.6. To facilitate the access and interconnection of other undertakings or entities which provide public services, or which are large users of them, to the goods used for the organisation and provision of services.

11.7. Collaborate with the authorities in cases of emergency or public calamity, in order to prevent serious harm to the users of public services.

11.8. Inform the start of their activities to the respective Regulatory Commission, and to the Superintendence of Public Services, so that those authorities can fulfill their functions.

Companies that are in operation to issue this Law must report their existence to these agencies within a maximum period of sixty (60) days.

11.9. The services companies will be liable to be liable for the damage caused to the users and they are obliged to repeat against the administrators, officials and contractors who are responsible for it or without prejudice to the criminal sanctions to be imposed.

11.10. The other provisions laid down in this Law and the relevant and complementary rules.

PARAGRAFO. (1) Administrative acts of an individual non-sanctioning nature which impose obligations or restrictions on those who provide public services and affect their profitability, generate liability and the right to compensation, except in the case of decisions that have also been made for other persons located in the same situation.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 12. SPECIAL DUTIES OF THE USERS OF THE OFFICIAL SECTOR. The failure of the official entities to perform their duties as users of public services, especially as regards the incorporation into the respective budgets of appropriations Sufficient and effective payment of the services used, is a cause of misconduct for its legal representatives and responsible officials, punishable by dismissal.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 13. APPLICATION OF THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES. The principles contained in this Chapter shall be used to resolve any difficulties of interpretation in applying the rules on public services to which this or other laws relate, and for fill in the gaps they present.

CHAPTER II.

SPECIAL DEFINITIONS

Go to start

ARTICLE 14. DEFINITIONS. To interpret and apply this Law, the following definitions shall be taken into account:

14.1. AFFECTED. Derivation of the local network of the respective service that arrives up to the registration of the building. In buildings of horizontal property or condos, the connection reaches the general court register. For the case of sewerage the connection is the derivation that part of the inspection box and reaches up to the collector of the local net.

14.2. COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITY OF A PUBLIC SERVICE. It is the activities to which this Law also applies, according to the accuracy that is made, when defining each public service. Where public services are mentioned in this Law, without making special precision, they are understood to include such activities.

14.3. MINIMUM COST OPTIMIZED: is the one that results from a minimum cost expansion plan.

14.4. ECONOMIES OF AGGLOMERATION. Those who obtain a company that produces or provides various goods or services.

14.5. OFFICIAL UTILITY COMPANY. It is the one in which the Nation, the territorial entities, or the decentralized entities of the one or the latter have 100% of the contributions.

14.6. MIXED PUBLIC SERVICES COMPANY. It is the one in which the Nation, the territorial entities, or the decentralized entities of the one or the latter have contributions equal to or greater than 50%.

14.7. A PRIVATE UTILITY COMPANY. It is the company whose capital is owned by mostly private individuals, or to entities arising from international conventions that wish to submit fully for these purposes to the rules to which they are subject the individuals.

14.8. SOCIOECONOMIC STRATIFICATION. It is the classification of the residential buildings of a municipality, which is made in attention to the factors and procedures that determine the law.

14.9. UTILITY BILL. It is the account that a person who is a public service provider delivers or refers to the user, because of the consumption and other services inherent in the development of a contract for the provision of public services.

14.10. REGULATED FREEDOM. The rate regime by which the respective regulatory commission will determine the criteria and methodology under which the home utilities can determine or modify the maximum prices for the services offered to the user or consumer.

14.11. PROBATION. The scheme of rates by which local public service undertakings are free to determine the sale rates to medium and small consumers, with the obligation to inform the public in writing. regulatory committees, on decisions taken on this matter.

14.12. MINIMUM COST EXPANSION PLAN. Medium and long-term investment plan, whose technical, economic, financial, and environmental feasibility guarantees to minimize the costs of service expansion. Official investment plans shall be indicative and shall be made for the purpose of ensuring continuity, quality, and reliability in the supply of the service.

14.13. DOMINANT POSITION. It is the one that has a utility with respect to its users; and the one that has a company, with respect to the market of its services and the next substitutes of this, when it serves 25% or more of the users that make up the market.

14.14. DIRECT PROVISION OF SERVICES BY A MUNICIPALITY. It is the one that assumes a municipality, under its own legal personality, with its officials and with its patrimony.

14.15. MARGINAL PRODUCER, INDEPENDENT OR FOR PRIVATE USE. 1 of Law 689 of 2001. The new text is as follows: > It is the natural or legal person who, using own resources and technically accepted by the regulations in force for each service, produces goods or services of the object of the utilities for itself or for a clientele composed exclusively of those who have direct economic links to it or to its partners or members or as a by-product of another main activity.

14.16. INTERNA NETWORK. It is the set of networks, pipes, accessories and equipment that integrate the public service supply system to the building from the meter. For buildings of horizontal property or condos, it is that system of supply of the service to the building from the register of general court when it has.

14.17. LOCAL NETWORK. It is the set of networks or pipes that make up the public service supply system to a community in which the property is derived from the property. The construction of these networks will be governed by Decree 951 of 1989, provided that it does not contradict what is defined in this Law.

14.18. REGULATION OF DIRECT PUBLIC SERVICES. The power to issue rules of a general nature (or in particular in the terms of the Constitution and this law), in order to subject the conduct of the persons providing the public services addresses the rules, rules, principles and duties established by law and regulations.

14.19. BASIC SANITATION. These are the activities of the whole household sewerage and toilet services.

14.20. PUBLIC SERVICES. 2 of Law 689 of 2001. The new text is as follows: > They are all complementary services and activities to which this law applies.

14.21. HOME PUBLIC SERVICES. < *See Notes of Vigency, in relation to the underlined texts > Are the aqueduct, sewerage, toilet, electrical energy, basic public telephone, mobile telephony *, and Fuel gas distribution as defined in this chapter.

14.22. PUBLIC SERVICE OF AQUEDUCT. Called also public service of drinking water. It is the municipal distribution of water suitable for human consumption, including its connection and measurement. This Law will also apply to complementary activities such as water catchment and processing, processing, storage, driving and transport.

14.23. PUBLIC PUBLIC SERVICE OF SEWER. It is the municipal collection of waste, mainly liquids, by means of pipes and ducts. This Law will also apply to the complementary activities of transport, treatment and final disposal of such waste.

14.24. PUBLIC TOILET SERVICE. 1 of Law 689 of 2001. The new text is as follows: > It is the municipal waste collection service, mainly solid. This law will also apply to the complementary activities of transport, treatment, use and final disposal of such waste.

It also includes, among others, complementary activities of lawn cutting and pruning of trees located in public roads and areas; washing of these areas, transfer, treatment and use.

14.25. PUBLIC PUBLIC SERVICE OF ELECTRIC ENERGY. It is the transport of electrical energy from the regional transmission networks to the address of the end user, including its connection and measurement. This Law will also apply to complementary activities of generation, marketing, transformation, interconnection and transmission.

14.26. PUBLIC LIMITED PUBLIC TELEPHONE SERVICE. It is the basic telecommunications service, one of whose objects is the switched voice transmission over the switched telephone network with widespread access to the public, in the same municipality. This Law will also apply to the complementary activity of rural mobile telephony and the national and international long distance service. Except for cellular mobile telephony, which will be governed, in all its aspects by Law 37 of 1993 and its regulatory decrees or the rules that modify them, complement or replace.

14.27. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LONG DISTANCE PUBLIC SERVICE. It is the public service of basic commuted telephony that is provided between localities of the national territory or between them in connection with the exterior.

14.28. PUBLIC PUBLIC SERVICE FOR FUEL GAS. It is the set of activities ordered for the distribution of fuel gas, by pipeline or other means, from a collection site of large volumes or from a central gas pipeline to the installation of a final consumer, including its connection and measurement. This Law will also apply to complementary marketing activities from the production and transport of gas by a main pipeline, or by other means, from the generation site to the one where it is connected to a secondary network.

14.29. SUBSIDY. Difference between what is paid for a good or service, and the cost of it, when such cost is higher than the payment received.

14.30. SUPERINTENDENCE OF PUBLIC SERVICES.   It is a public right person attached to the Ministry of Development who will have the functions and structure that the law determines. This Law will refer to it by name, or as "Superintendence of Public Services" or simply, "Superintendence".

14.31. SUBSCRIBER. Natural or legal person with whom a contract of uniform conditions of public services has been concluded.

14.32. POTENTIAL SUBSCRIBER. A person who has started queries to become a public service user.

14.33. USER. Natural or legal person who benefits from the provision of a public service, either as the owner of the building where it is provided, or as a direct recipient of the service. The latter user is also called a consumer.

14.34. ECONOMIC LINKAGE. It is understood that there is economic linkage in all cases that define the commercial and tax laws. In the event of conflict, the latter shall be preferred.

TITLE I.

OF PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS

Go to  home

ARTICLE 15. PERSONS PROVIDING PUBLIC SERVICES. They can provide public services:

15.1. Utilities companies.

15.2. Natural or legal persons who produce for themselves, or as a consequence or supplement to their principal activity, the goods and services of the object of the utilities.

15.3. Municipalities when they directly assume, through their central administration, the provision of public services, in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

15.4. Organizations authorized under this Law to provide public services in smaller municipalities in rural areas and in specific urban areas or areas.

15.5. Entities authorised to provide public services during the transitional periods provided for in this Law.

15.6. The decentralized entities of any territorial or national order that at the time of issuing this Law are lending any of the public services and conform to the established in the paragraph of the article 17.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 16. APPLICATION OF THE LAW TO THE MARGINAL, [INDEPENDENT] OR FOR PARTICULAR USE PRODUCERS. The marginal service producers or for particular use shall be subject to the Articles 25 and 26 of this Act. And they shall also be subject to the other relevant rules of this Law, all acts or contracts which they conclude to supply the goods or services the benefit of which is part of the object of the public service undertakings, to other persons in form (a) a mass, or in exchange for any kind of remuneration, or free of charge to those who have economic links with them under the law, or in any way that can reduce the conditions of competition. The legal persons referred to in this Article shall not be required to organize themselves as utility companies, except by order of a regulatory commission. In any case, it is understood that the producers of independent marginal services or for the particular use of electrical energy are subject to the provisions of Article 45 of Law 99 of 1993.

PARAGRAFO. When there are public services available for aqueduct and basic sanitation it will be mandatory to be linked as a user and to fulfill the respective duties, or to prove that there are alternatives that do not harm the community. The Public Service Superintendence will be the competent entity to determine whether the proposed alternative does not cause harm to the community.

The police authorities, on their own initiative or at the request of any person, will seal the residential buildings or open to the public, which are located in areas where aqueduct and sanitation services can be received. They have not been made users of them and retain such a character.

CHAPTER I.

LEGAL STATUS OF UTILITIES

Go  at startup

ARTICLE 17. Nature. Public service companies are companies for shares , the object of which is the provision of public services in this Law.

PARAGRAFO 1o. The decentralized entities of any territorial or national order, whose owners do not want their capital to be represented in shares, must take the form of industrial and commercial enterprise of the state.

As long as the law referred to in Article 352 of the Political Constitution does not have anything else, its budgets will be approved by the corresponding boards. In any event, the regime applicable to decentralized entities of any territorial level that provide public services, in all that the Constitution does not directly have, will be provided for in this Law. The Superintendence of Public Services may require modifications in the statutes of the decentralized entities that provide public services and have not been approved by the Congress, if they do not comply with the provisions of this Law.

PARAGRAFO 2o. Official utilities must, at the end of the fiscal year, constitute reserves for the rehabilitation, expansion and replacement of the systems.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 18. OBJECT. The Public Service Company is intended to provide one or more of the public services to which this Law applies, or to perform one or more of the complementary activities, or one and the other.

Regulatory commissions may require a utility to have an exclusive object when they establish that the multiplicity of the object limits competition and does not produce economies of scale or agglomeration for the benefit of the user. In any event, public service companies having multiple social objects must keep separate accounts for each of the services they provide; and the cost and modality of the operations between each service must be recorded explicit manner.

Public utility companies may participate as partners in other utilities; or in which they have as their main object the provision of a service or the provision of an essential good for fulfilling their object, if there is no already a wide range of this good or service in the market. They may also be associated, in the development of their object, with national or foreign persons, or form consortia with them.

PARAGRAFO. Regardless of its social object, all legal persons are entitled to make investments in utility companies. In the object of the organized communities, it will always be understood as the faculty to promote and constitute utility companies, under the conditions of this Law and the law that regulates them. In the public competitions referred to in this Law, companies in which such communities have a majority will be preferred if these companies are on a level playing field with other participants.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 19. LEGAL STATUS OF PUBLIC SERVICE UNDERTAKINGS. Public utility companies will be subject to the following legal regime:

19.1. The name of the company must be followed by the words "utility" or the letters "E.S.P.".

19.2. The duration may be indefinite.

19.3. Capital contributions may belong to domestic or foreign investors.

19.4. Increases in authorised capital may be made available by a decision of the Board of Directors, in the case of making new investments in the infrastructure of the public services of its object, and up to the value they have. The company will be able to offer, without subjection to the public offering rules of securities or those provided for in Articles 851, 853, 855, 856 , and 858 code of the Commerce Code, the new actions to the users who are to be beneficiaries of the investments, (a) who, if they acquire them, shall pay them within the time limits set by the undertaking, simultaneously with the service invoices.

19.5. When the company is established, the partners shall freely agree on the part of the authorised capital which is subscribed.

19.6. The determination of the part of the value of the shares to be paid at the time of the subscription shall be free, and the time limit for the payment of the part to be due. But the company will inform, always, in its financial statements, that part of its capital has been paid and which is not.

19.7. The value of the contributions in kind received by the companies does not require any approval of any administrative authority; it may be done by the preliminary assembly of the founding shareholders, with the vote of the two thirds of the members, or by the Board of Directors, as provided by the statutes. In any case, the endorsements shall be subject to subsequent control by the competent authority.

19.8. Companies may operate even if the registration prescribed in Article 756 of the Civil Code is not made for acts related to the property, related to their constitution. It is the duty of the contributors and the administrators to use the utmost diligence to ensure that such records are made, and as long as it does not occur, the respective contributions will not be paid. Those who take advantage of the absence of registration to carry out any act of disposition or charge in respect of the goods or rights that the company has on such assets, to the detriment of it, commit a crime of fraud, and the respective act shall be absolutely null.

19.9. In the assemblies, the partners will be able to cast as many votes as they correspond to their actions; but all decisions require the favorable vote of a plural number of partners.

19.10. The issuance and placement of shares does not require prior authorization from any authority; but if they are to make public offer of them to persons other than the users who have to benefit from investments in infrastructure, it is necessary to registration in the National Register of Securities.

19.11. The minutes of the assemblies must be kept; and copies of them and the balance sheets and states of losses and profits must be sent to the Superintendence of Public Services. The Superintendence will have in relation to the balance sheets and the state of losses and gains the powers of the article 448. of the Code of Commerce. It shall also be necessary to forward those documents to the public body which has jurisdiction for the provision of the service or the regulatory commission where any of them or a partner so request.

19.12. The company will not be dissolved but because of the causals provided for in the numbers 1 and 2 of article 457 of the Trade Code, or in the event that all the subscribed shares will belong to a shareholder.

19.13. If one of the causes of dissolution is verified, the administrators are obliged to carry out those acts and contracts that are indispensable in order not to interrupt the delivery of the services in charge of the company, but they will give immediate notice to the the competent authority for the provision of the service and the Superintendence of public services, and shall immediately convene the general assembly to report in full and documented manner. In no way will the third parties with whom the society negotiate the situation be hidden from the situation in which it is located; the concealment will make the administrators jointly and severally liable for the obligations that they will incur and the damages they cause.

19.14.

19.15. In other words, public service undertakings shall be governed by the rules of the Code of Commerce on public limited liability companies.

19.16. The composition of the boards of companies that provide home public services shall be governed solely by the law and its statutes in which it shall be established that there is representation directly proportional to the property actuary.

19.17. In the case of joint ventures, where the State contribution consists of the usufruct of the goods linked to the provision of the public service, its subscription, guarantee and payment, shall be governed entirely by private law, which shall in accordance with the The provisions of the Code of Commerce shall include the regulation of the obligations of the user, in particular with regard to the ordinary conservation expenses and the causes of the restitution of the assets provided.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 20. SCHEME OF UTILITIES IN SMALLER MUNICIPALITIES AND RURAL AREAS. Public utility companies operating exclusively in one of the municipalities classified as minors under the law, and according to prior regulation of the relevant regulatory commission, may depart from the provisions of the preceding article in the following:

20.1. They may be constituted by means of a private document, which must comply with the provisions of Article 110 of the Trade Code, as appropriate, and operate with two or more partners.

20.2. The representative capital titles that they issue may be the subject of an administration endorsement in order to conclude the securities deposit contract with respect to them, regardless of whether or not they are registered in the National Securities Register.

It is the duty of the mayors, staff and police inspectors to temporarily guard, at the request of the holders, the securities referred to in the foregoing paragraph, and to take care of the instructions of the holders, to facilitate their deposit, in a the management company of central securities deposits.

The same officials will take the measures that allow them to verify the legitimacy, integrity and authenticity of the values assigned to them, and will issue the corresponding record receipt, with a copy for the holders and their file. The government will regulate the matter.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 21. COMIU. The respective regulatory commission may authorize a utility to have common administrators with another company operating in a different territory, in so far as this makes it more efficient. operations and do not reduce competition.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 22. OPERATING SYSTEM. The duly constituted and organized public service companies do not require permission to develop their social object, but in order to operate they must obtain from the competent authorities, as the case may be, the concessions, permissions, and licenses that deal with 25 and 26 of this Act, depending on the nature of your activities.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 23. TERRITORIAL SCOPE OF OPERATION. Public utility companies can operate on a level playing field in any part of the country, subject to rules governing the territory of the relevant department or municipality.

Likewise, as provided by the exchange or tax rules, companies will be able to develop their object abroad without the need for additional permission from the Colombian authorities.

Obtaining on the outside of water, fuel, energy or access to networks, for the benefit of users in Colombia, will not be subject to restrictions or to any contribution of tariff or other nature, nor to different administrative permits of which they apply to internal activities of the same class, but to the common foreign exchange and tax rules. Regulatory commissions, however, may prohibit the provision of water, gas, energy, or access to networks to users abroad, when there are users in Colombia to whom the physical and financial possibility exists. service, but whose demand would not have been met by the fees resulting from the formulas approved by the commissions.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 24. TAX REGIME. All public service providers are subject to the national tax regime and territorial entities, but these special rules will be observed:

24.1. Departments and municipalities shall not be able to tax public service undertakings with fees, contributions or taxes which [shall not] apply to other taxable persons. industrial or commercial.

24.2. For a period of seven years, public service companies of municipal order, whether private, official or mixed, should be exempted from the payment of income tax and supplementary to profits that are capitalised or that are reserved for the rehabilitation, extension and replacement of the systems.

24.3. Public service companies in the home will not be subject to the presumptive income laid down in the Tax Statute in force.

24.4. For a term of ten years after the validity of this Law, the cooperatives, their associations, unions, central leagues, agencies of higher degree of financial character, auxiliary institutions of the cooperativism, cooperative confederations and, in general, all cooperative enterprises of a cooperative nature will be able to deduct from the gross income the investments they make in utilities.

24.5. The stamp duty exemption contained in the Tax Statute in Article 530, numeral 17, for agreements concluded between creditors and debtors of an establishment, with the intervention of the (a) a bank superintendence, where the latter is in possession of such a establishment, shall apply to agreements concluded on the occasion of the illiquidity or insolvency of a utility, which has resulted in the takeover or the settlement order of the company.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 25. CONCESSIONS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH PERMITS. Those who provide public services require concession contracts, with law enforcement authorities, to use the waters; to use the electromagnetic spectrum in the provision of public services shall require a licence or concession contract.

You must also obtain environmental and health permits that the very nature of your activities make necessary, in accordance with the common rules.

It is also the duty of those who provide public services to invest in the maintenance and recovery of the public good exploited through concession contracts.

If this is the provision of drinking water or basic sanitation services, in accordance with the distribution of powers provided by law, the competent authorities shall verify the technical suitability and financial solvency of the applicant for the purposes [of] the relevant procedures.

Ir al inicio

ARTICLE 26. MUNICIPAL PERMITS. In each municipality, those who provide public services will be subject to the general rules on urban planning, circulation and transit, the use of public space, and the safety and security of citizens; and Authorities may require adequate guarantees for the risks they create.

Municipalities should allow the permanent installation of networks for the activities of utilities, or the provision of the same goods and services as they provide, in the underground part of the roads, bridges, ejidos, andenes and other public goods. In any case, the companies will be responsible for all the damages caused by the poor construction or operation of their networks.

The municipal authorities under no circumstances will be able to deny or condition the public utility companies the licenses or permits to be issued by competent authorities under the law, for reasons that have to be considered by others. competent authorities for the granting of permits, licences or concessions, nor to favour monopolies or to limit competition.

CHAPTER II.

PARTICIPATION OF PUBLIC ENTITIES IN UTILITIES

Go to startup

ARTICLE 27. SPECIAL RULES ON THE PARTICIPATION OF PUBLIC ENTITIES. The Nation, the territorial entities, and the decentralized entities of any administrative level that participate in any title in the capital of the service companies public, they are subject to the following special rules:

27.1. They may not grant or receive from the companies a privilege or allowance other than those specified in this Law.

27.2. They will be able to dispose of their contributions, for which they will take into account systems that guarantee adequate publicity and the democratization of the property in accordance with this Law and in the development of the precept contained in the article 60 of the Political Constitution.

27.3. They should require utilities, a professional administration, outside partisan interests, to take into account the needs of service development in the medium and long term. At the same time it is right for you to set the specific administrative and efficiency criteria to be sought by such undertakings for persons representing their rights in accordance with the general criteria to be set by the committees. Regulation.

For these purposes, institutions may conclude contracts of loyalty or mandate for the professional administration of their shares in public service companies, with persons making the most appropriate offers, upon invitation. public.

27.4. In public service companies with official contributions, they are goods of the Nation, of the territorial entities, or of the decentralized entities, the contributions made by them to the capital, the rights that they confer on the rest of the assets, and any dividends that may correspond to them. To such goods, and to acts or contracts which deal directly, expressly and exclusively on them, the supervision of the Comptroller General of the Republic, and of the departmental and municipal contralories, shall apply. style="text-decoration: line-through; ">as long as companies do not make use of the authorization that is granted in the following subsection.

The control may be carried out by Colombian private companies chosen by public tender of merit and hired prior to the concept of the State Council or the competent administrative court, depending on national actions or contributions. of the territorial entities.

27.5 The authorities of the territorial entities, without prejudice to the competences assigned by the Law, will guarantee to the official public service companies, the exercise of their administrative autonomy and the continuity in the management management that demonstrates effectiveness and efficiency. They shall not be able to put on such managerial continuity, interests other than that of the good service.

27.6. The members of the boards of the official companies of the public service homes shall be chosen by the President, the governor or the mayor, in the case of national, departmental or municipal service companies. Households. In the case of the Boards of Directors of the Official Companies of the Public Services of the municipal order, they will be designated thus: two thirds will be freely appointed by the mayor and the other third party chosen between The Control Vocals registered by the Committees for the Development and Social Control of the Public Services.

27.7. The contributions made by the Nation, the territorial entities and the decentralized entities of any administrative level to the utilities, will be governed in a whole by the rules of private law.

CHAPTER III.

UTILITIES ASSETS

Go to  home

ARTICLE 28. REDES. All companies have the right to build, operate and modify their networks and facilities to provide public services, for which they will meet the same requirements, and will exercise the same powers as laws and other relevant rules establish for the official entities that have been in charge of the provision of the same services, and the individuals provided for in this Act.

Companies have an obligation to maintain and repair local networks, the costs of which will be borne by them.

< *See Notes of Vigency, in relation to the underlined texts > Regulatory committees may require that there be a possibility of interconnection and technical approval of networks, when it is indispensable to protect users, ensure the quality of the service or to promote competition. But in no case shall they require specific characteristics of networks or systems beyond those which are necessary to ensure the interconnectability of similar services or the coordinated use of resources. The commissions may also require that the construction and operation of networks and means of transport to provide the public services is not part of the object of the same undertakings which are responsible for the distribution and will also be known in appeal against the actions of any authority which relates to the construction or operation of networks. The construction and operation of networks for the transport and distribution of water, waste, electricity, gas and basic public telephony, mobile local telephony in the rural sector *, as well as the charging of the fees for their use, shall be governed exclusively by this Law and by the environmental, health and municipal standards referred to in Articles 25 and 26 of this Law.

Ir al inicio

Next

logoaj
Provisions analyzed by the Legal Advance Casa Editorial Ltda. ©
"Laws since 1992-Expressed Effective and Constitutionality Sentences"
ISSN [1657-6241 (Online)]
Last Updated: September 23, 2016
The validity notes, concordances, editor's notes, form of presentation and disposition of the
compilation is protected by copyright rules. In relation to these values
In addition, it is prohibited by the current regulations to be used in publications
similar and for commercial purposes, including-but not only-copying, adaptation, transformation,
reproduction, use and mass disclosure, as well as any other use expressly prohibited by
the rules on copyright, which is contrary to the rules on promotion of the
competence or requiring express and written permission from the authors and/or holders of
the copyright. In case of doubt or request for authorization, you can contact the
617-0729 in Bogota, extension 101. The entry to the page assumes acceptance of the rules
The use of the information contained here.