CHAPTER 16 - Public Utilities and Transport

Abstract

This chapter focuses on public utilities and transport. The term public utilities is defined in different ways in different places. Sometimes it is used only to apply to State-owned undertakings, which in most Western countries now include railways, electricity and gas supplies, water supplies, airports and harbors, telephones, sometimes marketing boards, and, quite frequently, road passenger transport other than taxis. In other places, public utilities include privately owned undertakings in the above categories. If the State owns factories or undertakings of a commercial nature other than those listed above or of a similar nature, these would not be included as public utilities but in the sector relevant to the type of activity concerned. Detailed accounts should available for publicly owned undertakings, and it is necessary to arrange the items in the profit and loss and trading accounts according to the sectors with which the transactions take place. It should not be difficult to obtain further details if a more detailed classification is required. Details of capital expenditure should also be fairly easy to obtain, if necessary from the industry itself; many public utilities are heavily capitalized industries. The provisions made for depreciation should be carefully considered in the light of the method used.