Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) — The Energy Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it has received over 47,000 complaints from consumers over high electricity bills despite eased quarantine restrictions.
The Manila Electric Co and other power utility firms have been in hot water over the past months for alleged lapses in their billing statements during the lockdown in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, when bills were based on estimates instead of meter reading.
“Itong mga reklamong ito, lahat, mga nag-text, nag-email, nag-message sa Facebook page ng ERC. Lahat ng ito ay pinagtutuunan namin ng pansin,” Energy Regulatory Commission chair Agnes Devanadera said during the Laging Handa briefing with other government officials.
[Translation: All these complaints, whether they come from texts, emails, messages on the ERC Facebook page, we give attention to them.]
Devanadera noted that even before these complaints, they have constantly reminded Meralco to issue a separate bill for the computation of the months covered by the enhanced community quarantine period from the regular billing statements.
“Parang tinutulungan na nga natin ang Meralco at para sa proteksyon at kapakanan ng ating consumers, ang bill during the ECQ period dapat ihiwalay sa regular bill,” she said.
[Translation: We are already helping Meralco, and for the protection and safety of our consumers, the billing during the ECQ period should be separate from the regular bill.]
Customers are also reminded to settle their unpaid bills every 15th of the month, starting June 15.
Meralco admitted on Monday that there may have been “overestimates” and “underestimates” in the bill of some consumers for the months of March and April. It later clarified that these were already corrected and reflected in the May or June bills, after meter reading was done.
Meralco earlier said consumers who paid their bills in full but are entitled to installment plans, may refund their payment.
The ERC previously announced that customers who consumed less than 200 kilowatt-hours would be given six months to pay their total balance starting June 30, while those who consumed more than 200 kilo-watt hours would be given 4 months to pay.
CNN Philippines’ Joyce Ilas contributed to this report
