Core Urban Services, O&M Costs and their Recovery through User Charges: A Study of Select Urban Areas in Andra Pradesh

Urban local bodies (ULBs) are supposed to provide basic urban services identified under the respective legislation and also to ensure the sustainability of service provision. Financial sustainability of the service, through the levy of appropriate user charge, is very important and integral to service delivery. Yet, several ULBs do not follow this maxim and continue with ad hoc methods of service delivery and its finance. This paper makes an attempt to analyse the service delivery performance of select ULBs in Andhra Pradesh, in terms of their OM it then suggests a reform agenda of improving civic service delivery through restructuring of service provision and through recovery of costs using better levy of user charges.