Bruno Calfat Advogados represented one of the largest private sanitation groups in the country, as well as the national association for the sector, in two appeals selected as leading cases with binding effect by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), aimed at analyzing the possible overruling of the legal theses established until then under the Theme 414/STJ. According to this precedent, it was deemed unlawful “to charge for water based on the minimum consumption multiplied by the number of economic units on the property when there is only one water meter on site,” in which case the charge should instead be “based on the actual consumption recorded” by the single meter.
The issue gained further importance following the enactment of Law No. 14,026/2020, known as the “New Legal Framework for Basic Sanitation,” which amended Law No. 11,445/2007. Among other important regulatory updates, the new framework established ambitious targets for the universalization of water supply and sanitation services in Brazil, addressing historical deficiencies in these essential services. Achieving these goals, according to the New Legal Framework, depends on the tariffs paid by users, given the substantial investments required.
Based on the services provided by the law firm, the STJ granted the appeals and overturned the judgments priorly issued by the Rio de Janeiro State Court (TJ/RJ), on the grounds that the former Theme 414/STJ was superseded by Articles 29 and 30 of Law No. 11,445/2007 (as amended by Law No. 14,026/2020).
As a result, the legal theses established in Theme 414/STJ were modified, with the STJ declaring (1) the lawfulness of the tariff structure based on the multiplication of the minimum charge by the number of economic units in condominium buildings composed of several consumption units but equipped with a single water meter, and (2) the unlawfulness of the so-called “hybrid billing criterion” — a case law, not grounded in statute, which required that billing in such cases should be based on the actual consumption measured by the single water meter, divided by the number of independent consumption units within the condominium.
The services provided by the law safeguarded the economic and financial balance of the concession agreements, strengthened legal certainty within the sector, and facilitated the investments required to achieve the universalization of basic sanitation services in Brazil.