Study Of The Prices Of Public Utilities Hearing Procedures

In 1998 the hearing system was introduced in government price decision-making in China. The establishment of price hearing system plays an important role in regularizing government hearing behavior of pricing decisions,improving democracy,scientificity and transparency of government price decision-making. The establishment of price hearing system expands the people's rights to be informed, to participate, to be heard and to oversee. Of course the price hearing practice reveals many problems. There have been system design problems as well as other problems in depth. These problems get price hearing system in predicament in practice. The public think most results of hearings are price rising and public price hearings is a form. The public has lost heart gradually to it. The National Development and Reform Commission summed up experience and lessons of price hearing practices and formulated the Measures for the Hearings for Prices Set by Government on December 1, 2008. After new measures is published and implemented, price hearing practices have improved in many respects, but still have problems. These problems include the problem of hearing procedure.First, the article explains research background and meaning of price hearing procedure of public utilities of China, summarizes situation of study of price hearing procedure of public utilities at home and abroad. On the basis of theoretical analysis of price hearing procedure of public utilities, the article introduces international experience of price hearing procedure of public utilities and sums up the enlightenment of price hearing procedure of public utilities in abroad for our country. The article summarizes current situation of price hearing procedure of public utilities of China and proposes the problems that are existing in price hearing procedure of public utilities of China. These problems are analyzed in four aspects that are including start-up procedure, preparation procedure, proceeding and disposing procedure of price hearings. The problem in start-up procedure is that no one has the right of bringing up price hearing except government departments. Problems in preparation procedure are the process of selecting the participants in the hearing meeting is not transparent, the preparing time limit of price hearing is not reasonable, procedure of the opening of hearing information is unregulated, etc. Problems in proceeding are the equality of participants in the hearing meeting, lacking of neutrality and professional of hearing host and hearing people, asymmetric information in price hearing process and the indeterminacy of implementing conditions of summary procedure, etc. Problems in disposing procedure are hearing opinion does not get enough attention; monitoring procedures are insufficient, etc. The article discusses the deep-seated reasons of price hearing procedure of public utilities of China that produce problems given above.Finally directing at problems, the article puts forward countermeasures and suggestions that will perfect price hearing procedure of public utilities of China.These countermeasures and suggestions include developing multi-body of starting up price hearing, regulating the process of selecting the participants in the hearing meeting, appropriately extending the preparing time limit of price hearing, strengthening the construction of information disclosure procedure, cultivating and developing social organization, regulating the process of selecting hearing host and hearing people, defining implementing conditions of the summary procedure, perfecting supervision procedure and so on. The author expects that fair procedures promote fair results, promote the development and perfection of price hearing system of public utilities of our country, and make administrative decision-making of our country more democratic and more scientific.