Article 35 of the Saudi Water Law

This short article provides that licenses issued under the Law, as well as applications to transfer use rights, are subject to a financial charge.

The body that imposes it is the Ministry or the Authority, according to jurisdiction; that is, each body imposes the charge on the licenses and applications that fall within its jurisdiction. The Law divides jurisdiction between them in many places; for example, the Ministry handles the transfer of source use licenses under Article 34, while the Authority handles service provision activity licenses under Article 47.

The article does not specify the amount of the charge, how it is calculated or when it is to be paid, since these details do not appear in its text. Article 34 explains that transferring a source use license from one user to another is subject to the Ministry verifying certain conditions before the transfer, and the financial charge in this article comes in addition to those conditions.

In practical terms, a person applying for a license or for the transfer of a use right should expect a financial charge and should check the amount with the body competent to receive his application. Anyone who needs to assess his position can consult a lawyer who specializes in water regulations and administrative cases.