Speaker
Description
The rights to water and sanitation were recognized as autonomous, specific human rights "essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights" by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on July 28, 2010, through Resolution A/RES/64/292. This resolution made it clear that providing universal access to drinking water and sanitation is an obligation of governments. In other words, it is the duty of the state to establish public policies to ensure the rights to water and sanitation—implying the removal of both physical and economic barriers that hinder universal access.
Drinking water affordability is among the principles highlighted in the UN resolution. If water services are available but prohibitively expensive, people with insufficient financial means may be forced to rely on cheaper but less safe water sources or practices or to sacrifice other basic rights, such as food, housing, and health. In many countries, social tariffs are a means to ensure affordability and guaranteed access to services for the most vulnerable users.
In Brazil, a new law from June 2024 establishes national guidelines for the Social Tariff for Water and Sewage (the "Social Tariff Law") that must be adhered to by both public and private service providers. This legislation affirms that basic sanitation must be managed under specific guidelines, including that user payments for services must be reasonable, socially equitable, and affordable.
According to the law Social Water and Sewage Tariff benefits users with a per capita income of up to half (1/2) of the minimum wage, provided they meet one of the following criteria:
-Belong to a low-income family registered in the Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico) or its successor registry system; or
- Belong to a family that includes:
A person with a disability, or
An elderly person aged 65 or older who proves they lack the means to support themselves or receive support from their family and who receives, under Articles 20 and 21 of Law No. 8,742 of December 7, 1993 (the Organic Law of Social Assistance), Continuous Benefit Payment (BPC) or an equivalent successor benefit.
Article 13 of the law established a vacatio legis period of 180 days, which ended on December 11, 2024. Between June and December 2024, the law was the subject of intense public debate in various hearings. Some stakeholders in the water sector, including public and private providers and regulators, argued against the law. They claimed it could lead to the economic unsustainability of water services in many Brazilian municipalities where a significant number of users benefit from social programs, resulting in an unsustainably high number of beneficiaries under the social tariff.
Conversely, social movements advocating for the human right to water supported the law, arguing that by enacting the Social Tariff Law, the Brazilian government fulfills part of the positive obligations inherent in the human rights to water.
This paper aims to explore the public controversies surrounding the national social tariff law for water. It recognizes the law as a fundamental instrument of public policy designed to address the challenges of ensuring universal access to water services in a context of increasing economic uncertainty.
| Keywords | human right to water, affordability, social tariff, public debate, Brazil |
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| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
