Water Services Act, 1997 (Act No. 108 of 1997)NoticesNorms and Standards for Tariff Setting, 2024 - effective 1 April 20262. Principles of Tariffs |
The water services tariffs are premised within the following inclusive principles which tariffs must reflect for the interests of both the Water Services Providers (WSPs) and the consumers within the water sector:
| (1) | Affordability: The tariffs must be reasonable enough to ensure that at least a basic level water supply is affordable and pro-poor to accommodate low-income groups. Indigent households should be enabled to benefit from subsidy schemes available which require them to pay minimum rates including FBW and FBSan. |
| (2) | Sustainability: The tariff as determined should allow the providing entity to recover at least the minimum costs of providing the services to enable the continuous provision of the services in the future and may include a surplus. |
| (3) | Equity: In view of the diverse nature of the society, the tariff should enable equitable delivery of services free of any preferential treatment and discrimination of any kind. The tariff should provide for accessibility of the services to all households and potential household both corporate and households. |
| (4) | Transparency and predictability: The methodology used to determine the tariff must be disclosed to the household and the WSI must further demonstrate the predictability of the future tariffs. |
| (5) | Multi-year tariffs: The tariffs that are set must reflect future time applicable tariffs which inculcates a culture of short, medium and long-term planning for water service tariffs. |