Rate-regulated activities — Comprehensive project

Background

Rate regulation is the setting by regulatory bodies or governments of prices that can be charged to customers for services or products through regulations, often where an entity has a monopoly or dominant market position that gives it significant market power.

Currently, there is no specific guidance in IFRSs addressing the accounting for rate‑regulated activities and companies use different accounting models to report the effects of rate regulation. Consequently, comparing and understanding the effects of rate regulation across different countries and companies is difficult.

Therefore, IASB wants to develop an accounting model that will require rate-regulated companies to provide information about their incremental rights to add amounts, and incremental obligations to deduct amounts, in determining the future rates to be charged to customers as a result of goods or services already supplied.

The IASB reactivated this project as part of its response to the Agenda Consultation 2011.  In reactivating this project, the IASB decided to also develop an interim standard for entities adopting IFRS that would allow entities adopting IFRS to continue to use their local GAAP requirements for rate-regulated activities until the comprehensive project is completed. The interim standard IFRS 14 Regulatory Deferral Accounts was published in January 2014.

This page tracks the history of the IASB's comprehensive project on rate regulated activities. 

Current status of the project

On 28 January 2021, the IASB published an exposure draft of a new standard ED/2021/1 Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities with comments requested by 30 July 2021.

Project milestones

Date Development Comments
December 2008 Added to the IASB's active agenda
23 July 2009 Exposure Draft ED/2009/8 Rate-regulated Activities published Comment deadline 20 November 2009
September 2010 IASB decided to defer the project
December 2012 Reactivated as an active project The IASB indicated an intention to consider an interim standard for entities adopting IFRS before completing a comprehensive project
28 March 2013 Request for Information Rate Regulation published Comment deadline 30 May 2013
29 April 2013 Consultative group established Details
17 September 2014 Discussion Paper DP/2014/2 Reporting the Financial Effects of Rate Regulation published Comments requested by 15 January 2015
28 January 2021 Exposure draft ED/2021/1 Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities published Comments requested by 30 July 2021

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