The Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

Charges schemes

201.—(1) A relevant undertaker may make a scheme (“a charges scheme”) which has effect in relation to a specified period of 12 months and does any one or more of the following, that is to say—

(a) fixes the charges to be paid for any services provided or other things done by the undertaker in the course of carrying out its functions;

(b) in the case of a sewerage undertaker, requires such charges as may be fixed by the scheme to be paid to the undertaker where, in the circumstances set out in the scheme—

(i) a notice containing an application for a consent is served on the undertaker under Article 176;

(ii) such a consent as is necessary for the purposes of Chapter III of Part VI is given by the undertaker; or

(iii) a discharge is made in pursuance of such a consent; and

(c) makes provision with respect to the times and methods of payment of the charges fixed by the scheme.

(2) The persons who may be required by a charges scheme to pay any charge fixed by virtue of paragraph (1)(b) shall be the person who serves the notice, the person to whom the consent is given or, as the case may be, any person who makes a discharge in pursuance of the consent at any time during the period to which, in accordance with the scheme, the charge relates.

(3) A charges scheme which requires the payment of charges where a discharge has been made in pursuance of such a consent as is mentioned in paragraph (1)(b) may impose—

(a) a single charge in respect of the whole period for which the consent is in force;

(b) separate charges in respect of different parts of that period; or

(c) both such a single charge and such separate charges.

(4) A sewerage undertaker is under a duty to ensure that any charges scheme made by the undertaker, so far as having effect to recover the undertaker’s costs of providing a sewer by virtue of its duty under Article 157(1), causes those costs to be borne by the undertaker’s customers generally; and a sewerage undertaker’s duty under this paragraph shall be enforceable under Article 30—

(a) by the Department; or

(b) with the consent of or in accordance with a general authorisation given by the Department, by the Authority.

(5) A charges scheme may contain supplemental, consequential and transitional provision for the purposes of the scheme.

(6) Nothing in any charges scheme shall affect—

(a) any power of a relevant undertaker in a case not falling within Article 200(3) to enter into such an agreement with any person in any particular case as determines the charges to be made for the services provided to that person by the undertaker; or

(b) the power of a sewerage undertaker to enter into any agreement under Article 187 on terms that provide for the making of payments to the undertaker.

(7) A charges scheme shall not take effect unless it has been approved by the Authority.

(8) The Department may give guidance to the Authority on the exercise of its power under paragraph (7); and the Authority shall have regard to that guidance in the exercise of that power.

(9) The Department shall arrange for any guidance given by it under paragraph (8) to be published in such manner as it considers appropriate.

(10) The Authority may not exercise its power under paragraph (7) for the purpose of limiting the total revenues of relevant undertakers from charges fixed by or in accordance with charges schemes.

(11) The Department may, in relation to any relevant undertaker, make a scheme (“an initial scheme”) having effect in relation to a period of 12 months from the day appointed for the coming into operation of Article 200.

(12) Subject to paragraph (13), an initial scheme—

(a) shall comply with the provisions of this Chapter relating to the contents of a charges scheme; and

(b) shall have effect for the purposes of this Order as if it were a charges scheme duly made by the undertaker under this Article.

(13) Paragraphs (7) to (10) do not apply to an initial scheme.