Business World Online
Posted on September 18, 2011 05:40:21 PM
DISTRIBUTION UTILITY Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will test a prepaid scheme for settling electric bills early next year, the firm said in a statement late last week.
ELECTRIC meters spin beside a shanty in Manila in this photo taken on June 4, 2008. Manila Electric Co. said it will be testing a prepaid scheme for settling electricity bills early next year to allow consumers to manage their energy use more effectively. -- AFP
Consumers opting for this mode of payment will just have to send the code behind their purchased credits to a central number via text message, mimicking the prepaid scheme for mobile telephone subscribers, Meralco said without elaborating on the initial areas to be covered.
“The Filipino’s love affair with his prepaid mobile is a powerful vehicle we will ride on, making the Philippine implementation somewhat unique versus the early adopters of the service,” Alfredo S. Panlilio, Meralco senior vice-president, said.
The utility is “currently evaluating vendor proposals for systems to implement,” he added.
Meralco is controlled by Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the local arm of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., which partly owns Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Mediaquest Holdings, Inc., a unit of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT, has a minority stake in BusinessWorld. -- Emilia Narni J. David
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