A further, very practical, problem arises in relation to WICA: who gets the protection afforded to customers of water and wastewater services when the property to which the service is supplied is the subject of a lease? In New South Wales, s 17 of the Retail Tenancies Act 1987 (NSW) presently stipulates the allocation of charges between lessor and lessee. The lessor must pay the rates, taxes and charges specified under the Act, other than charges for electricity, gas, excess water and other prescribed charges. Changes are being mooted that would pass all water charges on to tenants, not just excess water charges (OFT, A New Direction 2007). The present scheme means that the lessor must pay the base or fixed water charge and hence it is the lessor who contracts with the water- and wastewater-service provider. Further, when determining prices, IPART allocates costs between service charges — for which the lessor is liable — and usage charges — for which the lessee is liable (PIAC, Creating a Dynamic and Competitive Water Industry 2006: 16). Under the access regime, third-party providers will not have their prices regulated by IPART (unlike the public utility providers). They will be determined by the market. New providers will, therefore, need to undercut the IPART prices or, alternatively, charge more but lure customers by the provision of better or increased services. New providers will not be subject to IPART’s scrutiny about cost allocation between landlord and tenant and this may mean that lessors enter into contractual arrangements with new providers that shift costs from lessor to lessee (PIAC, Creating a Dynamic and Competitive Water Industry: 16).