Certain regulatory and efficiency issues of public utility companies in Budapest

Abstract

Capital cities of the world are usually characterized by a concentration of the majority of the population and most of the public administration and economic life. Therefore, the efficiency and quality of public service delivery in their administrative territories make a difference. The study examines public service companies in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, with the focus on their sectors of activity to describe their system, which may provide good foundations for a prospective international comparison.This study explores sector-oriented reports of state- and municipally-owned public utility companies providing services within the administrative territory of Budapest and evaluates them in terms of total assets, finance, profitability and efficiency. The study looked for an answer to the question of how the tighter state regulation and control adopted after 2010 affected their management, and what influence the price regulation of consumer public utility charges, imposed since 2013, had on companies’ activities.