The government has proposed amendments to the Utility Regulatory Authority (URA) Act to increase the number of members on the authority’s board, in a bid to strengthen its administrative governance.
The bill to amend the Utility Regulatory Authority Act was submitted to Parliament by Vilufushi Parliamentarian Hassan Waheed. After reviewing the bill, Parliament’s Environment and Climate Change Committee concluded that it should be passed with the amendments proposed by the government.
The government has proposed 11 amendments to the Act, mainly concerning changes to the composition of the Utility Regulatory Authority’s board.
Under the current law, the authority’s board consists of five members. The five members must have professional qualifications and experience in fields specified in the Act. However, the proposed amendment would increase the board to seven members, including the Chief Executive. It also stipulates that, apart from the Chief Executive, all other members must have professional qualifications and experience in the fields specified in the Act.
Under the current law, members of the Utility Regulatory Authority’s board are appointed for a single five-year term. The amendment would allow members other than the Chief Executive to be appointed for more than one term. However, this would not apply to members who have been removed from the board.
The amendment also sets out how the quorum for board meetings would be determined and specifies that the Chief Executive would not have voting rights in decisions taken by the board.
Once the amendment is passed and ratified by the President, the additional members required for the Utility Regulatory Authority’s expanded board must be appointed within 30 days, according to the amendment.
Parliament passed the bill with the votes of 61 members, while six members voted against it.