By Jordeene B. Lagare July 7, 2020
MANILA Electric Co. (Meralco) is
waiving the additional charge of P47 levied to customers when paying
electricity bills through its online application for the duration of the
coronavirus quarantine, its official said on Monday.
“We will extend the waiver of the
convenience fee for the entire duration of the GCQ (general community
quarantine) so until the GCQ is terminated or moved to the new normal, we will
spare the consumer the cost of the convenience fee,” Meralco President and
Chief Executive Officer Ray Espinosa said during a Senate hearing held
virtually.
Meralco will also refund the
convenience fee paid by its customers when they previously settled their
electricity bills during these periods.
“What we’ve been trying to do is to
find a payment gateway provider that could charge a much lower fee under the
current situation,” he said, adding such costs will be charged eventually to
customers if Meralco continues to absorb these fees.
But the Energy Regulatory Commission
(ERC) told Meralco to study the implications of its plan of integrating the
online transaction fee in its operational expenses (opex). “As you all know, if
the charge or cost becomes part of opex, pass on na po iyan (that is passed
on),” said ERC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Agnes Devanadera.
Espinosa made this statement as Sen.
Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate panel, appealed to the listed firm to
waive the transaction fee for bill payments via the Meralco app.
“Kahit na po GCQ, gusto ho natin na
sa bahay na lang po iyong ating mga kababayan kung hindi naman ho importante at
kung puwede namang gamitin online iyong pagbabayad (Even if it’s already GCQ,
we want our countrymen to stay at home and settle their bills through the
internet),” Gatchalian said.
“But for me the P47 is a
disincentive. Lalabas na lang ako at magbayad na lang kaysa magbayad na lang
ako ng P47 (I’d rather go out of my house and settle my electricity bills than
pay the P47 added fee),” he added.
To recall, in May, the country’s
largest power distributor made the same announcement for power bills during the
duration of the ECQ from March 16 to May 15.
Moving forward, Espinosa said
Meralco is finding ways to “bring down” the cost of online bills payment
through its online portal.
In the same hearing, Meralco also
apologized to consumers for the inconvenience over confusion in billings during
the lockdown.
Earlier, the listed firm sent out
issued several explanations through various traditional and social media
platforms to detail the bill estimations done for March, April and, in some
cases, May in compliance with the ERC rules for cases when meter readers can’t
be deployed.
But Espinosa told lawmakers a
clarificatory letter will be sent out to customers soon, particularly those
whose meters were read in May but whose bills contain a previous reading that
is actually based on estimated March and/or April consumption.
“But let me assure the chair and the
committee members, and the public that there is no intention on the part of
Meralco to charge a customer and have that customer pay more than the actual
consumption registered in the meter,” said Espinosa, pointing out that Meralco
strictly adheres to the rules as implemented by the ERC.
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