Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No. 108 of 1997)

Notices

Norms and Standards for Tariff Setting, 2024 - effective 1 April 2026

Norms and Standards in respect of Tariffs for Bulk Water Services

11. Drought tariffs and seasonal tariffs

Purchase cart Previous page Return to chapter overview Next page

 

(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.