Sunass approves guidelines to gradually distribute the water tariff increase

The National Superintendency of Sanitation Services (Sunass) approved the “Guidelines for the distribution of the tariff increase derived from the application of the new methodology for the calculation of the update rate,” through Board Resolution No. 033-2026-SUNASS-CD, issued in Lima on September 8, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette El Peruano on Friday, September 11, 2026. The regulation, adopted by the Board of Directors in its session on September 7, enters into force the day following its publication.

The document establishes the procedure for gradually distributing the tariff increase resulting from the application of the new update rate calculation methodology, allowing it to be distributed over a maximum period of up to three regulatory years. In this way, the impact on the users’ payment capacity is modulated without compromising the economic and financial sustainability of the service providers.

Regulatory Framework and Background

The measure is based on Law No. 27332, the Framework Law of the Regulatory Bodies for Private Investment in Public Services, which empowers regulators to issue general regulations. Likewise, it is supported by Legislative Decree No. 1280, the Law of the Universal Water and Sanitation Service, modified by Legislative Decree No. 1620, which introduced changes regarding the economic regulation of service provision.

The Regulations of the Law of the Universal Water and Sanitation Service, approved by Supreme Decree No. 009-2024-VIVIENDA, establishes in numeral 15 of article 153 that Sunass has the function of calculating and applying the update rate according to the methodology approved by the Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation. The proposal was presented through Report No. 00096-2026-SUNASS-DPN from the directorates of Policies and Standards, Economic Regulation, and the Legal Advisory Office.

Application Criteria

The distribution of the tariff increase is determined by applying three criteria:

• Graduality: mitigate the impact on the payment capacity of users, seeking a homogeneous distribution of the increases.
• Financial Equivalence: preserve the present value of the incremental revenues, regardless of the distribution alternative applied.
• Economic-Financial Balance: gradual application must not prevent revenues from covering economic costs, nor generate cash deficits or compromise the sustainability of the provision.

Application Procedure

The procedure for applying the distribution of the tariff increase comprises the following steps:

• Calculate the tariff increase, maintaining a consistent comparison base between the new methodology and the previous methodology outlined in Annex V of the General Tariff Regulations, approved by Board Resolution No. 028-2021-SUNASS-CD.
• Determine the effect of the increase on incremental revenues for drinking water and sanitation services, expressed in present value.
• Identify distribution alternatives, evaluating their application for a maximum of the first three years of the regulatory period.
• Select, among the viable alternatives, the one whose highest annual increase is as low as possible.

The guidelines are applied ex officio in the first periodic review procedure or, if applicable, the exceptional review of each service provider initiated after the new methodology comes into effect. The resolution was signed by the executive president of Sunass, Mauro Orlando Gutiérrez Martínez.

The regulation has a direct impact on the bills of millions of drinking water and sanitation users across the country, as it defines how and within what timeframes the tariff increase derived from the rate update will be transferred. By modulating the gradual application of the increase, Sunass seeks to balance the protection of households’ payment capacity with the need for service providers to maintain their financial equilibrium and service quality.

Source: Official Gazette El Peruano, No. 19513, Friday, September 11, 2026, Legal Norms section, pgs. 53-55 (official reference: Board Resolution No. 033-2026-SUNASS-CD).