Law No. 51 of 8Th of March 2006 ( Republished ) (* Updated *)

Law no. 51 of 8th of March 2006 (** republished **) (* updated *)

of the public utilities services

(Updated until November 4, 2014 *)

Issued by the Parliament

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*) The updated form of this normative act before November 4,2014 is carried out by the Legal Department of the SC "Centrul Teritorial de Calcul Electronic"Piatra Neamț (The Electronic Calculation Territorial Centre, TN) by including all modifications and supplements to theEMERGENCY ORDINANCE no. 68 of October 21, 2014.

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The content of this document belongs exclusively to S.C. Centrul Teritorial de Calcul Electronic S.A. Piatra-Neamţ, and it is not an official document character, being intended to inform the users.

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**) Republished underthe article III of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 13/2008to modify and supplementthe Law of community services of public utilities no 51/2006andthe Law of the water supply and sewerage service no. 241/2006,published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 145 of February 26, 2008, approved with the amendments and supplements byLaw no. 204/2012,published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 791 of November 26, 2012, by renumbering the texts.

The Law of the public utilities services. no 51/2006was published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 254 of March 21, 2006 and was also amended by:

-Law no. 329/2009on the reorganization of public authorities and institutions, on the rationalization of public expenditures, on the business support and compliance of the framework agreements with the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 761 of November 9, 2009, with the subsequent amendments and supplements;

-Law no. 187/2012for the implementation ofthe Law no. 286/2009regarding the Criminal Code, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 757 of November 12, 20l2.

CHAPTER I

General provisions

ARTICLE 1

(1) This law establishes the unitary institutional and legal framework, the objectives, powers, duties and specific instruments required for the creation, organization, management, funding, operatation, monitoring and control of the operation of the community services of public utilities.

(2) For the purposes of this law, the community services of public utilities, referred to as public utilities services, are defined as the totality of the regulated activities by this law and by special laws, that ensures the satisfaction of the local collectivities essential needs of utility and general public interest having a social feature, regarding:

a) water supply;

b) sewerage and wastewater treatment;

c) collection, sewerage and drainage of rainwater;

d) the production, transportation, distribution and supply of thermal energy in a centralized system;

e) the sanitation of the localities;

f) public lighting;

g) administration of the public and private domains of the terriorial and administrative units, as well as of others alike;

h) local public transportation.

(3) The provisions of this law shall apply to public utilities services defined in par. (2) established, organized and provided / rendered in the villages of towns, municipalities, counties, Bucharest and, where appropriate, under the law, in the territorial-administrative subdivisions of the municipalities or in the intercommunity development associations under the direction, coordination, control and responsibility of the local authorities, if by special laws it is not stated otherwise.

(4) Public utilities services are part of the public services of general interest and have the following features:

a) the socioeconomic feature;

b) they fulfill some requirements and needs of public interest and utility;

c) the technical and town features;

d) are permanent and have a continuous operation mode;

e) the operation regime may have monopoly characteristics;

f) they assume the existence of an appropriate technical and town infrastructure;

g) the coverage area has local dimensions: villagelike, townlike, municipal or countylike;

h) are created, organized and coordinated by local public administration authorities;

i) are organized on economic and efficiency principles;

j) can be provided / rendered by licensed operators that are organized and function either based on the regulations of the public law, either according to the regulations based on the private law;

k) are provided / rendered on the principle: "the beneficiary pays";

l) the recovery of operating costs or investment is made by prices, rates or special taxes.

ARTICLE 2

For the purposes of this Law, the terms and concepts below are defined as follows:

a) intercommunity development association having the public utility services as object of activity - is the intercommunity development association defined according to the provisions of theLocal public administration Lawno. 215/2001,republished, with the subsequent amendments and supplements, aiming at the establishment, organization, regulation, financing, operation, monitoring and joint management of public utility services provided / rendered within the competence of the administrative divisions, as well as carrying out the joint execution of public investment projects of regional or local interest for the setting up, modernization and / or development, as appropriate, of the public utilities systems related to such services;

b) the competent regulatory authorities - Autoritatea Naţională de Reglementare pentru Serviciile Comunitare de Utilităţi Publice (the National Regulatory Authority for the Community Services of Public Utilities, T.N), hereinafter ANRSC, Autoritatea Naţională de Reglementare în Domeniul Energiei (the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority, T.N.), hereinafter called ANRE, Autoritatea Rutieră Română (Romanian Road Authority, T.N), hereinafter referred to as ARR, or the local public administration authorities, as appropriate;

c) authorization - a technical and legal document issued by the competent regulatory authority, which gives a legal person permission to mount, put into operation, to modify, to repair and to operate cost-sharing systems;

d) endorsement of prices and tariffs - the activity of analysis and verification of prices and tariffs, conducted by the competent regulatory authorities under the procedures of establishment, adjustment or modification of prices and tariffs, materialized by issuing an expert notice;

e) delegating the management of a public utility service - the action by which an administrative division assignes to one or more license holding operators, under this law, the provision / rendering of a service or of an activity related to

the public utilities services of which he is responsible of. Delegatingthe management service / public utility activity involves the proper operation of the service / activity, the concession of the public utility system afferent to the delegated service / activity, and the right and duty of the operator to manage and operate that public utilities system. Delegating the management can be performed also by intercommunity development associations having as activity object the public utility services, in the name and on behalf of the administrative divisions,

under a special mandate granted by them;

f) license - technical and legal document issued by the relevant regulatory authorities, by which are recognized the quality of operator of public utilities services in a covered area, and the ability and the right to provide / render a public utility service;

g) operator - the legal entity of public law or private law, registered in Romania, a European Union member state or in another state, which has the power and ability recognized by the license issued by the national regulatory authority in Romania, to provide / render, under the regulations, a service or an activity in the field of public utilities services, and that can provide the immediate service/activity management, the administration, the functioning and the operation of the public utility system afferent to it;

h) regional operator - the company operator regulated byLaw no. 31/1990, republished, with the subsequent amendments and supplements,regarding the companies with full capital of some or all of the administrative divisions that are members of an intercommunity development association whose object of activity consists of public utility services. The regional operator shall ensure the provision / the services provision / the activity of public utilities within the competence of the associated administrative divisions, and also the management, operation and exploitation of the related public utilities systems, as well as the implementation of the public investment programs of regional or local interest, the modernization and / or, where appropriate, the development of the technical infrastructure for these services / activities carried out jointly in the association.

The regional operator is established on the basis of decisions taken by the deliberative authorities of the administrative divisions that are members of an intercommunity development association whose object of activity consists of public utility services, including the amendment of the constitutive acts of the existing operators that are subordinated to the local public administration authorities, in accordance with theLaw no. 31/1990,republished, with the subsequent amendments and supplements. The regional operator is assimilated by the bodies providing public services that are stipulated bythe Government Emergency Ordinance no. 64/2009regarding the financial management of the structural instruments and their use for the convergence objective, approved with amendments by Law no.362/2009, as subsequently amended and supplemented.

i) users - natural or legal persons who benefit, directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, by the public utility services, under the law;

j) public utilities system - all movable and immovable goods, acquired under the law, consisting of lands, buildings, machinery and technological installations, equipment and functional facilities, specific to a public utilities service, by whose operation and functioning is ensured the provision / performance of the service;

k) technical-urban infrastructure - all public utilities systems for the provision / performing of public utilities services;

the technical-urban infrastructure belongs to the private or public domain of the administrative divisions and is subject to the legal regime of public or private property, according to the law;

l) public domain - all movable and immovable goods acquired under the law, publicly owned by the administrative divisions, which, by law or by their nature, are of national or local or county public interest, declared as such by a decision of the local or county councils that have not been declared legally as household or national public interest goods;

m) private domain - all movable and immovable goods, other than those referred to in subparagraph l), that are property of the administrative divisions by the means provided by law;

n) monopoly in the field of public utilities - market situation characteristic to some public utility services that, on a delimited territorial area, may be provided / rendered only by a single operator;

o) setting the prices and rates - the analysis procedure to calculate the prices and the rates, developed and approved by the competent regulatory authorities, by which the structure and the levels of prices and rates is set, as applicable, for the public utility services;

p) the adjustment of prices and rates - the analysis procedure of the level of existing prices and tariffs, developed and approved by the competent regulatory authorities, by which the correlation of the level of prices and tariffs previously established with the general evolution of prices and rates in the economy;

r) changing the prices and the rates - the analysis procedure of the structure and the level of the existing prices and rates, developed and approved by the competent regulatory authorities, applicable in the situations when there are changes in the cost structure that lead to recalculate the prices and the rates.

s) activity in the field of public utilities, hereinafter activity - distinct functional component of the specific technological chain of a public utility service.

ARTICLE 3

(1) The public utility services are the responsibility of local public administration authorities, or, where appropriate, of the intercommunity development associations whose object of activity consists of public utility services, mandated by decisions of the deliberative authorities of the member administrative divisions. Public utility services are set up, organized and managed under the law, according to the decisions adopted by the deliberative authorities of the administrative divisions, depending on the degree of urbanization, on the economic and social importance of the localities, on the size and the degree of their development and in relation with the existing tehnical urban infrastructure.

(2) In the organization, operation and development of public utilities services, the general interest of local communities is a priority.The provisions of this law aim to satisfy as completely as possible the users' requirements, the protection of their interests, strengthening of the economic and social cohesion in local communities, and the sustainable development of the administrative divisions.

(3) Detailing the creation, organization, development, financing, operation and management of each public utility service is done by special laws, by norms and regulations adopted by decisions of the Government and by orders of the competent regulatory authorities.

(4) Public utility services are provided / rendered by some operators or regional operators defined according to article 2, subparagraphs l) and h). Operators can have the following status:

a) unincorporated functional compartments, organized according to the specialized structure of the apparatus of the mayor or, where appropriate, of the county councils;

b) local or county public services that are unincorporated, that are organized and established by decisions of the deliberative authorities of those administrative divisions;

c) county or local public services with legal status, that are created and organized by decisions of the deliberative authorities of those administrative divisions;

d) companies that have a social capital that belongs entirely to those administrative divisions, and that are regulated bythe Law no. 31/1990,republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

e) companies with private social capital, that are regulated by theLaw no. 31/1990,republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

f) companies with mixed social capital, regulated byLaw no. 31/1990,republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented.

ARTICLE 4

(1) Public utility systems are part of the technical-town infrastructure of the administrative divisions, are goods of public interest and use and belong, by their nature or according to law, to the public or private domain of the administrative divisions, being subjected to the legal status of their public or private property, as appropriate.

(2) If the location and the realization of the components of the public utilities system, namely the development of the existing ones, require the permanent occupation of some land or changing the purpose of some buildings, other than those that are public or private domain of the administrative-territorial, they will become public property of the administrative divisions through the procedures provided by law.

(3) To ensure the protection and the normal functioning of the public utility systems, and to avoid endangering persons, properties and the environment, protected and safety areas are established, in accordance with the technical standards developed by the competent authorities.

(4) The works of creation, development, rehabilitation and refurbishment of public utility systems, and works of revision, repairs and remedy of the damages are works of public utility.

ARTICLE 5

(1) In order to identify, record, describe and represent on cadastral maps and plans, as well as in the documentation of urban and spatial planning, public utilities systems stand out and are inventoried in the town and real land registers organized in the administrative divisions, according to law.

(2) Operators that provide / render public utility services, regardless of the organization type, of the ownership, of the nature of the capital or country of origin, have the right of legal servitude of the public utility systems for accomplishing services.

ARTICLE 6

The public utility services are organized and administered by respecting the legal provisions in force on local public administration, by administrative and financial decentralizing, regional development, local public finances and by respecting the following principles:

a) local autonomy;

b) decentralization of public services;

c) subsidiarity and proportionality;

d) accountability and legality;

e) intercommunitary associations;

f) sustainable development and the correlation of the requests with the resources;

g) protection and conservation of natural and built environment;

h) ensuring the hygiene and health of the population;

i) efficient management of goods of the public property or the private property of the administrative divisions;

j) participation and consultation of citizens;

k) free access to information on public services.

ARTICLE 7

(1) The public utility services are subject to legal regime of public services of general interest, making them applicable to public service obligations defined according to the following founded requirements / needs, namely:

a) universality;

b) continuity both qualitatively and quantitatively, in terms of contracts;

c) adaptability to users' requirements and long-term management;

d) equal and non-discriminatory accessibility to public service, under the regulated conditions of the contract;

e) decisional transparency and protection of users.

(2) The organization, operation and management of public utilities services must ensure:

a) meeting the quantity and quality of the users' requirements, according to the contract provisions;

b) human health and quality of life;

c) the economic, legal and social protection of the users;

d) an optimal functioning of persons and services that takes place in conditions of safety, profitability and economic efficiency of constructions, installations, equipment and machinery, according to the projected technological parameters and in accordance with the specifications, operating instructions and service regulations;

e) the introduction of some modern management methods;

f) introduction of some modern methods of developing and implementing strategies, policies, programs and / or projects in the field of public utility services;

g) sustainable development, preservation and valorification of public and private domain of the administrative divisions, and environmental protection and conservation, in accordance with the regulations in force;

h) information and consultation of local communities that benefit from these services;

i) following the principles of market economy, ensuring a competitive environment, restricting and regulating the monopoly areas.

CHAPTER II

Authorities and competences

SECTION 1

Local public administration authorities

ARTICLE 8

(1) The local public administration authorities have exclusive competence, under the law, in everything regarding the establishment, organization, coordination, monitoring and controlling the operation of public utilities services, and in terms of the creation, development, modernization, management and exploitation of the goods that are public or private property of the administrative divisions, afferent to the public utilities systems.