The operator has no responsibility to finance operations or to invest in the system and payment is not fully tied to the amount of tariff revenue collected. All resources apart from specific expertise are provided by the public sector, and the operator can only make best use of those resources provided.
As the operator has no responsibility to invest in the system, these contracts, by their very nature, cannot require the operator to extend or provide service to low-income areas. How-ever, the contracts can require expertise in social issues and in developing and implementing any funded low-income strategies.