A/HRC/42/47/Add.3 60. In Portugal, special tariffs have been established to assist those with low incomes, and, equally, those with larger families. However, during his visit the Special Rapporteur noted that eligibility determinations for access to social tariffs can be inappropriate and can lead to those with significant need falling outside the selection criteria. In particular, the Special Rapporteur was informed about a section of the population known as the “new poor”, who are comprised of people who have recently experienced negative changes in their household income (A/HRC/36/45/Add.1, para. 6). Equally, in relation to large families, it was seen that the criteria for inclusion within family tariff schemes differs from provider to provider, and may require families to contain a specific number of children to be present within a home, meaning that a household with, for example, five adults might not be eligible, but a household with two adults and three children would be (A/HRC/36/45/Add.1, para. 66). 61. Some measures have been taken to assist individuals and families to access social tariffs with greater ease and flexibility. As noted previously, Decree-Law No. 147/2017 enables municipalities to apply social tariffs automatically for people in receipt of social security payments, thereby reducing the length of time these people must wait before they receive a tariff discount.7 Further, a resolution approved on 14 October 2016 recommends that the Government improve citizens’ access to social tariffs for public water, sanitation and waste collection services. At the same time, the resolution calls on the Government to improve the transmission of information between the fiscal and social security services and the water and sanitation utilities to ensure that utility providers are more informed as to which of their customers might be eligible for receipt of social tariffs, therefore potentially enabling them to apply such tariffs with greater responsiveness and ensure users are not left for considerable periods of time with unaffordable services. 8 This resolution was supported by another, approved directly after, which recommends that the Government establishes a mechanism to automatically transmit information on social tariffs paid by users for energy bills to water and sanitation utilities.9 62. Related to recommendation 18 on the flexibility of social tariffs, the Government highlighted the pre-existing structures, which assist in increasing the flexibility of social tariffs. It noted that “the fact that [water and sanitation] services are usually provided at local level is an advantage in this context, since social tariffs are decided at the local level, where there is more knowledge of specific households who may face affordability issues. Social services’ involvement is also quite active at the local level with more than 250 social security services nationwide, who know closely those households facing financial difficulties and can act more flexibly in adapting social support practices.” 63. The automatic application of social tariffs, and a close connection between the utility providers and the social security arms of Government, are arguably important to ensuring that social tariffs are able to reach those in need, without them having to wait extended periods of time in order to abide by strict rules and processes for proving their eligibility. Accordingly, where this system works correctly, it has the potential to promote flexibility, which, in turn, better ensures that water and sanitation services are affordable for those who lack the means to pay market tariffs. However, concerns have also recently been raised regarding the operation of the social tariff system, which speak directly to issues of flexibility. On 19 September 2018 the Portuguese Association of Consumer Defence published an open letter which contained concerns regarding the application of social tariffs for water and sanitation services. The letter noted that the rules relating to these tariffs were unclear and found that municipalities were not applying social tariffs in a uniform manner. In particular, the Association noted that there lacked a standardized average monthly 7 8 9 16 Decreto-Lei n.º 147/2017, de 5 de dezembro. Diário da República n.º 233/2017, Série I de 2017-1205. Resolução da Assembleia da República n.º 224/2016, Diário da República n.º 219/2016, Série I de 2016-11-15. Ibid.