Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No. 108 of 1997)NoticesNorms and Standards for Tariff Setting, 2024 - effective 1 April 2026Norms and Standards in respect of Tariffs for Bulk Water Services11. Drought tariffs and seasonal tariffs |
| (1) | A WSP may determine and levy a drought tariff when abstraction of water gets restricted due to drought and on condition that it has been declared by the relevant authority. |
| (a) | A WSP must follow the same procedure as described in regulation 6 when setting and approving for drought tariffs: |
| (i) | if drought tariffs have not been approved as part of the tariffs, a bulk WSP must follow the processes described in these norms and standards regulation 6 before implementing drought tariffs; and section 42(5) of the MFMA becomes fully effective. |
| (b) | The implementation of the drought tariff shall be triggered by restrictions on raw water abstractions as a reaction to the drought conditions; |
| (c) | Every bulk water institution shall, under the circumstances above, revise the budget and calculate a new tariff based on the revised budget and the restricted water volumes. |
| (d) | A bulk WSP must: |
| (i) | use a tariff that minimises the economic and social costs related to water conservation measures. |
| (ii) | consider the reliability of supply during drought by assessing the water resources available to the area prior to the declaration of drought in that area; |
| (2) | A WSP may determine and levy a tariff that seeks to promote Water Conservation and Water Demand Management in the area of supply |
| (a) | a bulk water supply provider may determine and approve a seasonal tariff within its area of supply. |
| (b) | the purpose of the seasonal tariff is solely to manage water demand and promote water conservation during peak seasons; |
| (c) | the application and approval of a seasonal tariff will follow the same procedure as prescribed under regulation 6. |
| (d) | A WSP may levy a penalty tariff within its area of supply under any of the following circumstances: |
| (e) | a customer abstracts water volumes in excess of what they have contracted for with the service provider, |
| (f) | the penalty tariff will be applied on the extra volumes abstracted only, |
| (g) | the penalty tariff will be applied during all seasons of the year, |
| (h) | the penalty's main objective is to promote efficient use of water and striving to reduce water losses to reasonable systems losses only. |
| (i) | the same procedure as prescribed under regulation 6 applies prior to the implementation of the penalty tariff. |
| (3) | A WSP must provide customers with prior notification of the implementation of drought tariffs or the activation of water conservation measures using at least two sources of media. |