The Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (Deco) analyzed the water tariff practiced in 150 municipalities, concluding that there are feed-in tariffs, sanitation and solid waste “incoherent”.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, Deco believes that “from north to south and coast to the interior, tariffs continue to be guided by inequality,” a conclusion that the association withdraws from 450 tariff analysis applied to end consumers in 150 municipalities.
For the association, the effect that the “imminent approval of aggregation of multi-municipal systems in high,” abstraction and treatment of water, will have the final price is “unclear to the consumer.”
“What is the guarantee given by the Government and by local authorities, for tariff harmonization and the affordability of services charged to consumers?” said Deco, arguing that ” in principle, aggregation should reduce the cost of water and sanitation that municipalities have to pay the entities, benefiting , for example, economies of scale, greater efficiency and exclusion of unbalanced contractual clauses ” .
The association gives some examples of what you consider to be “inconsistent rates:” Among the ten municipalities with the highest bill, six are from Oporto district. Santo Tirso and Trofa, for example, pays respectively 431.23 and 492.91 euros for a consumption of 120 m3 per year for the three services. On the opposite side, Barrancos, presents a bill of 76.50 euros. Aveiro, Espinho, Oliveira do Bairro and Vila do Conde, with a higher cost, do not apply social tariff, and Covilha, Thorn, Mafra, Paredes and Vila do Conde ignore the price for large families. “
Deco also believes that there is “lack of transparency of information” online on the tariff of the three water services and for special tariff (the social tariff and which is directed to large families).
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