Captains of Industry and Residents Association (CIRA) has raised concern over Bulawayo City Council’s (BCC) increased tariffs for goods and services since 2014.
CIRA believes that council is abusing its dominance and monopolistic market power. The level of increases imposed by the council has no bearing on economic fundamentals.
According to CIRA, council excessively increased its pricing in United States dollars for goods and services, creating a non-level playing field against the rest of the economic players who have maintained the same prices in real terms since 2014.
CIRA secretary-general, Mr Andile Ndlovu, said in a statement that they are conducting investigations into the matter and said the level of increment does not suit the economic fundamentals. He also said they have made consultations with different stakeholders regarding the increased tariffs.
“Our complaint against the council is that they are abusing their dominance and monopolistic market power through excessive charges for their goods and services. The level of increases imposed by the council has no bearing on economic fundamentals,” said Mr Ndlovu.
Mr Ndlovu further stated that tariffs should reflect real costs in line with the rest of the economy. He added that it has been established that both Zinwa and Zesa have maintained their tariff levels at the 2014 level in United States dollars.
He also said an example of overpricing would be the water tariffs which were recently increased. The costs of raw water and electricity went down in real terms yet council increased their tariffs by 83 percent on the USD tariffs using 2014 as the base year from their independent research.
CIRA intends to hold meetings with the council and the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works in order to deliberate on the topic.
“We intend to hold a stakeholders’ meeting to which participation of residents and ratepayers would be imperative. We have requested the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and Competition Commission to participate at the meeting.
During this meeting, our investigative report will be presented,” said Mr Ndlovu. – The Chronicle
