SMC suspends penalties on Aleco customers’ unpaid bills

Business Mirror

09 Feb 2014 

 

Written by Manly M. Ugalde / Correspondent

LEGAZPI CITY—To appease consumers incensed by mounting penalties on their unpaid electric bills, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has suspended the addition of more surcharges on the late payment by the 200,000 consumers of the Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco).

Since September 2013, the electric consumption by the consumers have not been read and their electric bills undelivered, thereby causing the penalties to mount.

Some Aleco employees—including meter readers and bill deliverers —have been on strike for at least five months.

Aleco is about P4 billion in debt  and is the first electric cooperative to privatize.

SMC has taken over Aleco as a concessioner on January 8, after winning the bidding to manage the cooperative. Three other bidders—the Aboitiz group, Manila Electric Co. and the Lopez group—withdrew from the pre-selection process.

Aleco is the first electric cooperatve to privatize. Aleco, which has more than 200,000 consumers is saddled with close to P4-billion debts.

Consumers said they are already saddled by months of undelivered electric bills as early as September last year due to the continuing labor strike. They feared they would be obligated to settle their electric bills in full or face disconnection.

Magen del Rosario, a member of the Aleco interim board created in 2011, said SMC only controls Aleco’s    engineering aspect since its final physical takeover on January 8. It is awaiting resolution from the Department of Labor on February 14 over the issue of alleged union busting and illegal dismissal raised by the Aleco Labor Employees’ Union (Aleo), backed by the Aleco Multisectoroal Stakeholders Organization (Amsso).

Del Rosario said the new Aleco management, however, had decided to suspend indefinitely the 2-percent penalty the old Aleco management had imposed on late payments on electric bills. Failure to settle electric bills a week after receipt of the electric bill requires consumers settle it with the 2-percent interest computed on a monthly basis. A second unpaid bill would automatically cost disconnection if not settled in 48 hours upon issuance of the disconnection notice.

On January 14 striking Aleco employees halted their strikes after the Department of Labor and Employment issued a return-to-work order, with the resolution expected to be released on February 14.

Last week, however, employees resumed their strike after SMC allegedly failed to restore some 100 striking employees to their original duties and their salaries withheld.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation-designated General Manager Allan Marcha could not be contacted for comment but a source said SMC had already designated certain banks and establishments to receive electric-bill payments.

Generoso Butial of Tabaco City said he has yet to receive his electric bills ,,and that his efforts to check his bills with Aleco proved futile.

Last week Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda appealed to critics of the Aleco privatization to give SMC the chance to prove its worth in rehabilitating Aleco. He said SMC will certainly not fail Albayanos, saying SMC will do its best to make Aleco privatization as a showcase, adding that the business sectors and giant power firms are watching over its development.

Salceda said ailing electric cooperatives are closely monitoring, the Aleco privatization that its success may entice them to follow. Report said one of the four electric cooperatives in Camarines Sur that have also been suffering misanagement and bankruptcy has  already signified interest to privatize.

Early reports said SMC had set aside P350-million funds to pay for retiring Aleco employees and those who will be terminated. The report said SMC has already completed its plantilla list to be filled up by newly recruited employees and officials.

Marred by a high system losses of 24 percent, the reported graft-ridden an- mismanaged Aleco has been run during the past 30 years  by three area district managers  appointed by the board of directors in concurrence of National Electrification Administraion under one NEA appointed general manager.

A highly reliable source said the failed Aleco had in its employ meter readers who were, at the same time, doing collection duties. Cases of rampant misappropriation of collections have been reported linking insiders in the racket perpetrated by a gang dubbed as Aleco 4. Aleco operation is composed of three districts, known as the Aleco I, Aleco II and Aleco III.

Many consumers, however, are offended as the new management reportedly asked them to produce official receipts for alleged pasts unpaid bills that cannot be found in the final Aleco record some even reached equivalent to almost a year.   source