Given that they have not been addressed properly, most problems remain (Poppe, 2009). Such flexibility allows for relatively uniform tariffs throughout the country, so that customers in remote places do not have to pay disproportionately high bills because they are difficult to reach by the concessionaires or other service providers. These discounted tariffs make cost recovery extremely difficult even with LpT subsidies, particularly for utilities that in addition have low rates of rural electricity access (ESMAP, 2005). In these cases, privately owned concessionaires often charge their wealthier, urban consumers higher tariffs in order to cross-subsidise rural consumers.