National Ports Act, 2005 (Act No. 12 of 2005)NoticesDirectives in terms of Section 30(3) of the ActDirectivesChapter 7 : Approval by the Regulator of Tariffs Charged by the Authority22. Approval and amendment of tariffs |
| (1) | The Authority shall, within 30 days of the directives coming into effect and, thereafter on an annual basis on or before 1 August or at such longer intervals as the Authority and the Regulator may agree, submit its tariff book setting out its proposed tariff for all services and facilities offered by the Authority for the following financial year of the Authority, for approval by the Regulator. |
| (2) | The Authority shall submit to the Regulator a proposal for the amendment of any tariff for services and facilities offered by the Authority at any port from time to time. |
| (3) | Any submission to the Regulator in terms of subdirectives (1) or (2) above shall contain sufficient information for the Regulator to consider the submission; in particular the Authority shall set out— |
| (a) | the manner in which the tariffs have been calculated, and the model used by the Authority for determining and calculating the tariffs; |
| (b) | all operating and capital costs, expenses and revenues, incurred or generated from the port service or port facility, as well as the value of the capital stock; |
| (c) | the amounts to be invested and the revenues to be utilised in port development, safety, security and environmental protection; |
| (i) | the manner in which the tariffs will affect the cost of doing business in the ports; |
| (ii) | the proposed profit margin or rate of return, together with a motivation to show why this margin or return is commensurate with risk; and |
| (iii) | the manner in which the factors set out in directive 23 apply to the proposed tariffs. |
| (4) | The Regulator may call on the Authority to provide any additional information which the Regulator requires to consider the submission made in terms of subdirective 1 or 2 or to approve the proposed tariffs. |
| (5) | The Authority may in a submission made in terms of subdirective (1) or (2), identify information which the Authority believes is confidential information. Any such submission shall be made and dealt with in the manner set out in directive 25. |
| (6) | The Authority shall maintain such financial and accounting systems as are necessary for the Regulator to verify the pricing principles and models used by the Authority to determine and calculate its tariffs. |
| (7) | If the proposed tariffs will or are likely to materially and adversely affect the rights of any person, the Regulator must publish notice of the proposed tariffs in a newspaper circulating tariffs. |
| (8) | A notice published in terms of subdirective (7) must— |
| (a) | be in at least two of the official languages taking into account the language preferences and usage in the province or area concerned; |
| (b) | state that the particulars of the proposed tariffs may be obtained on the Authority's website and from the Authority's offices in each port. |
| (c) | invite relevant members of the public to submit written objections to and comments on the proposed tariffs in the manner and by the date set out in the notice, which shall not be earlier than 30 days from the date of publication of the notice; |
| (d) | if the Regulator determines it is necessary, invite any members of the public who make written submissions also to request an opportunity to make oral submissions before the Regulator at the time and date and in the manner set out in the notice; and |
| (e) | invite members of the public to attend all meetings at which the oral submissions referred to in subdirective (d) are made. |
| (9) | To ensure that the proposed tariffs are brought to the attention of the public, the Regulator may, in addition, publicise the information referred to in subdirective (8) by way of communications through the printed or electronic media, including by way of press releases, press conferences, the Internet, radio or television broadcasts, posters or leaflets. |
| (10) | The Regulator shall provide the Authority with a copy of all written submissions received following a notice issued in terms of subdirective (8) and shall provide the Authority with an opportunity to respond in writing to all such submissions. |
| (11) | The Authority shall be timeously informed of any decision by the Regulator to invite any members of the public who make written submissions to make oral submissions to it and the Authority shall be given the opportunity to be present when all such submissions are made and to make its own submission in support of the proposed tariffs. |
| (12) | The Regulator, shall, after due consideration of all written and/or oral submissions, objections, evidence and reports before it, approve or reject some or all of the proposed tariffs. |
| (13) | The Regulator shall, when assessing the tariffs, limit the increases to the existing revenue weighted tariffs to CPIX minus X. CPIX is the prevailing Consumer Price Index excluding mortgage cost inflation. X is the efficiency factor determined by the Regulator after consulting the Authority, other Government stakeholders and those port users that the Regulator deems necessary. |
| (14) | The Regulator shall perform a tariff level rebasing every five years which shall— |
| (a) | set the baseline tariff structure that shall be used in assessing the Authority's subsequent applications for approval of the tariffs; |
| (b) | be informed by the port system capacity requirements forecasts, recoveries on existing tariffs, tariffs for comparable services in ports in other countries, the valuation of the Authority's asset base and any other factors the Regulator deems necessary; and |
| (c) | be performed and released for the first time at least two months before the third tariff application after the commencement of these directives. |
| (15) | The Regulator shall take and communicate its decision, in the manner set out in section 41 of the Act, to the Authority, any person who filed an objection to the proposed tariffs and any other party that made written or oral submissions to it. |
| (16) | The Regulator shall take a decision in terms of subdirectives (1) and (2) within four months of the receipt of the submission. |