The civic bodies in the Union Territory were constituted by a French Metropolitan Decree dated 12th March 1880. The above decree divided the entire region into 8 communes. Each commune was provided with a Municipal Council consisting of Mayors and Deputy Mayors and Councilors for the Administration of its affairs. The decree which was the basic Law of Municipalities has now been replaced by the Pondicherry Municipalities Act, 1973 which came into force on 26th January 1974. The Pondicherry Municipality which was constituted under the Act of 1973 is a selection Grade Municipality and comprises the erstwhile Communes of Pondicherry and Mudaliarpet and its headquarters in Pondicherry. The total number of Councillors is 42. Out of 42 wards, 4 wards have been reserved for Scheduled Castes. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor have been redesignated as Chairman and Vice-Chairman as per the Act. The Municipal Council was dissolved on 31.03.1978 and a Special Officer has been appointed to exercise the powers and to perform the duties conferred and imposed upon the Municipal Council, including the Standing Committee and other Committees and that of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman and other authorities other than the Commissioner.
