Keep the change

摘要

Over 50% of the cities we surveyed in 2021 hadn't changed their tariffs from 2020. Despite pressing infrastructure requirements, both for climate change resilience and to achieve global coverage for water and wastewater services, change is notoriously slow for tariffs. Utilities often operate in highly regulated, political environments where tariffs can be forced down if they are considered too unaffordable. Public pressure can also prevent tariff hikes and politicians will manipulate rates to gain popularity, as seen in Turkey in 2019.