Meralco urged to credit P2.1-B meter-deposit refund to April customer bills

Business Mirror
13 Apr 2014 Written by Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

TO cushion the sting of a P0.89 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) power-rate hike in April, a lawmaker on Sunday urged the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to automatically credit some P2.138 billion worth of meter-deposit refunds to the April bills of customers.

House Deputy Minority Leader and Liquefied Petroleum Gas- Marketers’ Association Party-list Rep. Arnel Ty said Meralco should begin the automatic crediting of all meter-deposit refunds to customer bills this April, instead of waiting for May.

“It is bad enough that it has taken Meralco more than five years to comply with the mandatory return of all meter deposits plus accrued interest,” Ty said.

A previous Meralco notice stated that all unclaimed meter-deposit refunds plus interest are scheduled to be automatically credited to customer bills starting in May.

But Ty said Meralco should start the automatic crediting this April, to help offset the significantly elevated electricity bills that customers are expected to pay this month.

Earlier, Meralco submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission its computation for generation charge in April. The P0.89-per-kWh increase for Meralco power rates in April translates to a net increase of P178.91 for households with 200-kWh consumption; P268.36 for 300 kWh; P357.82 for 400 kWh; and P447.28 for 500 kWh.

The lawmaker, citing Meralco’s financial statements, said the company has yet to return some P2.138 billion worth of meter deposits, inclusive of interest, to around 1.8 million customers.

“Meralco was supposed to refund some P3.098 billion worth of meter deposits plus interest starting way back in 2008. However, the company has so far repaid only P960 million, leaving some P2.138 billion in meter deposits unreimbursed,” Ty said.

The meter deposit refers to the amount previously paid by a customer when applying for Meralco service, as guarantee for the loss of or damage to the electricity-measuring device installed by the company.

The Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers freed residential customers from paying the meter deposit beginning July 2004, while the Distribution Services and Open Access Rules spared non-residential users from the expense in April 2006.

Following the release of refund guidelines by regulators in July 2008, Meralco began repaying the meter deposits of eligible customers in November that year.

Meralco customers who applied for service and paid the meter deposit from 1987 to 2004 (for residential users) and from 1987 to 2006 (for non-residential users) are entitled to the refund.

Moreover, Ty said the meter-deposit refund is on top of some P1.5 billion in residual repayments that Meralco still owes its customers due to previous overcharges.

Ty has filed House Resolution 882, urging the House Committee on Energy to inquire into Meralco’s failure to fully comply with the November 15, 2003, Supreme Court ruling for the company to refund overbillings originally worth some P30.2 billion.

The overcharges stemmed from prior years’ corporate income taxes, the cost of which was wrongfully passed on by Meralco to its customers. source