Addressing the social consequences of tariffs for water supply and sanitation
Where they exist, tariffs for water supply and sanitation services face a tension
between different policy objectives, such as ensuring the financial sustainability
of service provision and ensuring access to all, including vulnerable and poor social
groups. Governments (local and national) resort to a range of measures to reconcile
these objectives and address social consequences of tariffs: tariff levels and structures,
nudging, budgetary transfers, targeted social measures. The paper revisits most common
practices and discusses their pros and cons, and requisites to make them work. It
provides up-to-date analyses on a series of related issues, such as definitions of
affordability, principle for cost recovery, benefits and costs of metering, elasticity
of domestic water use to prices, fiscal transfers to water services. The paper is
informed by recent academic research, data on selected countries, and interactions
with OECD bodies.
Published on June 30, 2020
In series:OECD Environment Working Papersview more titles