The provisions of the Law on Communal Activities (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 88/2011, 104/2016 and 95/2018) define communal activities and regulate the general conditions and manner of their performance.
The provisions of Article 2, paragraph 3 of the Law on Communal Activities (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 88/2011, 104/2016 and 95/2018) stipulate that communal activities are:
- supply of drinking water
- purification and removal of atmospheric and wastewater
- production, distribution and supply of thermal energy
- municipal waste management
- urban and suburban passenger transport
- management of cemeteries and burials
- funeral activity
- management of public parking lots
- provision of public lighting
- market management
- maintenance of streets and roads
- maintenance of cleanliness on surfaces of public use
- maintenance of public green areas
- chimney sweep services
- animal hygiene activity.
Performers of communal activities
Communal activity can be performed by a public company, a company, an entrepreneur or another business entity.
The communal activity of supplying drinking water and the communal activity of urban and suburban passenger transport in the part that includes the performance of public scheduled passenger transport by trolleybuses and trams can be performed exclusively by public companies established by a local self-government unit, a limited liability company and a joint-stock company (from now on: capital company) whose sole owner is a public company, i.e. whose sole owner is a local self-government unit, as well as a subsidiary company whose sole owner is that capital company.
Fulfilment of the conditions for starting the performance of communal activities
Fulfilment of the conditions for starting the performance of communal activities, from Article 2, paragraph 3 of the Law on Communal Activities (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 88/2011, 104/2016 and 95/2018), is determined by the Ministry responsible for communal activities.
Article 7 of the Law on Ministries (“Official Gazette of the RS”, no. 128/2020) stipulates that the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure performs state administration tasks related, among other things, to communal activities, except for production, distribution and supply thermal energy. According to the provisions of Article 8 of the Law on Ministries (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 128/2020), the Ministry of Mining and Energy is responsible for the production, distribution and supply of thermal energy.
The minister in charge of communal activities forms a commission that checks the fulfilment of the conditions for starting the performance of communal activities.
Suppose the commission determines that the conditions are met. In that case, the minister responsible for communal activities will issue a decision on the fulfilment of the requirements for the performance of communal activities by utility operators, i.e. if the commission assesses that the conditions are not met, the minister responsible for communal activities will issue a decision rejecting the request.
The decision on fulfilling the requirements for the performance of communal activities by the performers of communal activities shall be made within 30 days from the date of submission of proper documentation.
The Ministry responsible for communal activities keeps records of economic entities that perform a specific communal activity.
Obligation to report to the Ministry responsible for communal activities
At the request of the Ministry, which is responsible for communal activities, the operator of communal activities is obliged to provide the Ministry with data and information regarding the performance of communal activities within 15 days from the date of receipt of the Ministry’s request.
Performers of communal funeral activities submit to the Ministry, which is responsible for communal activities, a report, on the prescribed form, regarding the performance of activities by the end of February of the current year for the previous year.
The Ministry, which is responsible for communal activities, monitors the quality and coverage of the provision of communal services, the efficiency of communal activities, price movements, the number of employees and the level of investment in the maintenance and construction of communal infrastructure and informs the Government of Republic Serbia and the public about its findings at least once a year.
Predominant activity code
Business entities are obliged to register with the Register of Business Entities, which the Business Registers Agency maintains only the four-digit code of the predominant activity and its designation (name of activity) following the Law on Classification of Activities (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 104/2009) and the accompanying Decree on Classification of Activities (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 54/2010). There is no possibility to register the activity in the data on the code and name of the activity, and this is due to electronic processing, in the way that communal activities are classified in Article 2, paragraph 3 of the Law on Communal Activities (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 88/2011, 104/2016 and 95/2018).
However, in the business name of the business entity, following the provisions of Article 22, paragraph 7, of the Companies Act (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 36/2011, 99/2011, 83/2014 – other laws, 5/2015, 44/2018, 95/2018, 91/2019 and 109/2021), the subject of business can be described in more detail in the way communal activities are classified in Article 2, paragraph 3 of the Law on Communal Activities (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 88/2011, 104/2016 and 95/2018).
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