Section 8Sec./Art. 8

Section 6 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Section 6. Repayment Scheme.

For the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of any infrastructure project undertaken through the build-operate-and-transfer arrangement or any of its variations pursuant to the provisions of this Act, the project proponent shall be repaid by authorizing it to charge and collect reasonable tolls, fees, and rentals for the use of the project facility not exceeding those incorporated in the contract and, where applicable, the proponent may likewise be repaid in the form of a share in the revenue of the project or other non-monetary payments, such as, but not limited to, the grant of a portion or percentage of the reclaimed land, subject to the constitutional requirements with respect to the ownership of land:Provided, That for negotiated contracts, and for projects which have been granted a natural monopoly or where the public has no access to alternative facilities, the appropriate government regulatory bodies, shall approve the tolls, fees, rentals, and charges based on a reasonable rate of return:Provided, further,That the imposition and collection of tolls, fees, rentals, and charges shall be for a fixed term as proposed in the bid and incorporated in the contract but in no case shall this term exceed fifty (50) years:Provided, furthermore, That the tolls, fees, rentals, and charges may be subject to adjustment during the life of the contract, based on a predetermined formula using official price indices and included in the instructions to bidders and in the contract:Provided,also, That all tolls, fees, rentals, and charges and adjustments thereof shall take into account the reasonableness of said rates to the end-users of private sector-built infrastructure:Provided, finally, That during the lifetime of the franchise, the project proponent shall undertake the necessary maintenance and repair of the facility in accordance with standards prescribed in the bidding documents and in the contract.

In the case of a build-and-transfer arrangement, the repayment scheme is to be effected through amortization payments by the government agency or local government unit concerned to the project proponent according to the scheme proposed in the bid and incorporated in the contract."