[[Image:tariffs.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Photo: [http://www.deccanchronicle.com/121123/news-current-affairs/article/no-water-tariff-hike-scb-now No water tariff hike in SCB now]]]
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Tariffs are funds paid / contributed by users of water, sanitation and hygiene services for obtaining the service (GLAAS, 2012). Users generally make payments to service providers for getting access to the service and for using the service. When the service is self-provided (e.g. when a household builds and operates its own household latrine), the equity invested by the household (in the form of cash, material or time) also fall under tariffs. Cases where households try to improve the service they get in terms of water quality (filters and other products) and water quantity (storage tanks, rainwater harvesting facilities) are also considered under household contributions.
* '''Pay-as-you-fetch'''; require a caretaker to be present at the facility at all times (except when it is locked) to collect water tariffs from the community. Users pay a fixed amount per container which is filled by the caretaker.
===Examples===
Analysis by (GLAAS, 2012, page 26) indicates that household contributions in the form of tariffs account for a significant share of investment, accounting for 44% of funding in the water and sanitation sector (see table 1).
In Chile, poor families that cannot pay are eligible by law for a state-paid discount of 50% to 85% on their piped water supply and sewerage bill. The condition is that they have a ''social card'' from the Municipality. About 10% of the utility’s clients received the discount in 1994, which was valued at 2.5% of the total amount billed (Alfaro, 1997).
===Guidelines tariff setting water and sanitation===
The Water Partnership Program (WPP) of the African Development Bank produced guidelines (2010) on user fees and cost recovery for both non-networked and networked water and sanitation services in rural and urban areas. These guidelines can be used to develop water and sanitation tariffs.
* Winpenny, J., 2011. [http://www.gwptoolbox.org/images/stories/Docs/euwi%20fwg%20primer%20on%20financing%202011.pdf Financing for water and sanitation: a primer for practitioners and students in developing countries]. Stockholm, Sweden: The European Union Water Initiative Finance Working Group, EUWI-FWG.
===Links===
[http://www.irc.nl IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre] is a knowledge broker, innovator and catalyst of change within the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector working internationally and in selected focus countries and regions. IRC seeks to extend WASH services to the less privileged, while ensuring that services are based on the sustainable use of water resources, are appropriately managed, and are better governed. IRC works in partnership with governments, the public and private sector, Dutch and international organisations, UN institutions, development banks and non-governmental networks and organisations.
<div id="GLAAS">'''GLAAS'''</div>
[http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/glaas_report_2012/en/index.html Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS)] is produced every two years by the World Health Organization (WHO) on behalf of UN-Water. It provides a global update on the policy frameworks, institutional arrangements, human resource base, and international and national finance streams in support of sanitation and drinking water.