Published June 15, 2020, 11:17 AM By Hannah L.
Torregoza
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday
said the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) should provide incentives to
customers moving into online transactions, saying the P47 convenience fee it
insists on collecting from electricity consumers is a disincentive.
Meralco initially waived the
convenience fee during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), but has
recently announced that it will resume collecting the said fee from consumers
who wish to pay their bills online after Metro Manila and other cities started
reopening payment and business centers.
“The 47 peso-convenience fee is a
disincentive for consumers moving online. Why will Meralco resume collecting 47
pesos from every household when many of our ordinary kababayans have just
returned to work trying to recover financial losses? This should not happen!
The public has been inconvenienced enough,” said Gatchalian.
The chairman of the Senate energy
committee pointed out that Meralco had earlier clarified that the fee does not
go to its coffers and that payments go through a payment gateway operated and
maintained by an online third-party service provider.
Because of this, Gatchalian urged
the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)
to look into the fees being charged by third-party service providers.
The senator pointed out that even
with the easing of the community quarantine, the threat of the COVID-19
pandemic remains and many customers may still be unable to visit business
centers due to limited transportation.
“Baka nakakalimutan ng Meralco na
nandyan pa rin ang banta ng COVID-19 sa kalusugan ng bawat mamayan sa kabila ng
pinaluwag na quarantine (Meralco must have forgotten that the threat of
COVID-19 remains a threat to the health of the people despite the easing of
quarantine measures),” he pointed out.
” Kaya nga natin sinusulong ang
paggamit ng online platforms sa pagbayad ng mga bills ay upang hindi na lumabas
ng bahay at makipagsapalaran sa mga bayad centers at iba pang establisyemento
ang mga tao, pagkatapos ay pababayarin din pala sila ng dapat na pang serbisyo
publiko na lang. Huwag nating pahintulutan ito (The reason why we are pushing
for the use of online platforms in the payment of utilities is to make sure
that people need not go out of the house and go to payment centers and other
establishments to settle their bills. And now, they will still pay for
something that’s supposed to be part of public service? Let’s not allow this),”
the lawmaker said.
Gatchalian said he doesn’t want
other distribution utilities to come up with a similar setup to the detriment
of power consumers.
“We don’t want to create undue
stress to our consumers,” he added.
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