A/HRC/36/45 specific purposes without explicit mention of the human rights to water and sanitation standards or principles does not necessarily mean that those forms of regulation do not take into consideration at least partially these standards and principles. 9 In this context, it is essential to emphasize a distinction between fully incorporating the human rights to water and sanitation into regulatory frameworks and choosing some selected aspects of it to comply with. For States to fulfil their human rights obligations, the whole human rights to water and sanitation framework must be reflected in States’ regulatory norms and activities. 26. It is widely accepted that the scope for competition in the water and sanitation sector is limited, due to the prominence of significant upfront, sunk costs. This situation commonly results in the existence of a single service provider — public or private — in a given area, defined as natural monopoly, reinforcing the need for adequate regulatory measures to ensure that the rights of users are not compromised. In fact, historically, the rationale for introducing regulation in the water and sanitation sector has been related to instances of “market failure”, in particular, prevention of monopoly abuse. 10 In such monopoly situations, regulatory bodies may be more exposed to the risk of capture by providers, due to information and power asymmetries among other factors, and by political interests, since these bodies are part of governments. 11 27. Some authors argue that in recent years there has been a gradual shift in the normative goals of regulation from “pure” economic goals to a greater level of inclusion of social objectives. Some contend that the rationale for the regulation of water and sanitation services should involve three dimensions of sustainability: (a) the social sustainability of the services, by protecting users’ interests; (b) the economic, infrastructure and human resource sustainability of the entities providing the services; and (c) the environmental sustainability, in terms of the efficient use of environmental resources. 12 Others have identified “human rights” as an additional regulatory rationale, according to which the regulatory body protects service users’ rights directly “through developing standards reflecting these rights and monitoring their application through inspection”. 13 From a human rights perspective, the regulatory framework’s objectives, activities and norms should be derived from the human rights framework. 28. The role of regulation and monitoring becomes particularly challenging in rural areas and in densely populated informal settlements in urban areas, where large proportions of the population are not served by a piped network and rely on informal small-scale providers, which often operate unregulated and as a result provide poor-quality services at high prices.14 Given the informal nature of the provision, and the lack of regulation and monitoring, users of such services do not have a complaint mechanism that they can avail themselves of when services are inadequate or unaffordable. B. Types of regulatory frameworks 29. States have interpreted the role of regulation in various ways, depending largely on the norms applicable to their particular context and the needs that correspond to that context, which leads to a range of different regulatory models and institutional arrangements. The most appropriate approach differs from country to country and depends 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 Robert Bos and others, Manual of the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation for Practitioners (London, International Water Association, 2016), p. 58. Richard Franceys and Esther Gerlach and others, Regulating Public and Private Partnerships for the Poor (Cranfield University), chap. 3, p. 2. Emilio J. Lentini and Gustavo Ferro, “Políticas tarifarias y regulatorias en el marco de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio y el derecho humano al agua y al saneamiento”, Recursos Naturales e Infraestructura, No. 164 (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2014). Jaime Melo Baptista, The Regulation of Water and Waste Services: An Integrated Approach (RITAERSAR) (International Water Association Publishing, 2014), p. 43. Julián Daniel López Murcia, “Regulatory agencies and courts in the South: the overlaps in Colombian water regulation”, Journal of Politics in Latin America, 5, 2 (2013), pp. 105-132. UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water, Investing in Water and Sanitation: Increasing Access, Reducing Inequalities (2014 report), p. 19.