Meralco, DUs asked to reflect on billings ‘bill deposit plus interests’

Distribution utilities, primarily industry giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco), are being required to reflect on their monthly billing the amounts corresponding to “bill deposit plus interest charges” that they will eventually need to refund to customers.

This has been based on the request of Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), essentially supporting also the complaint filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (NASECORE) on the matter.

According to Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella, if a major power utility like Meralco is involved, their calculation had been that the “principal amount plus interest charges” could run up to monstrous sum – to the tune of billions of pesos.

“Because of that, the Secretary is asking the ERC to require the DUs to input the bill deposit amount in the consumers’ monthly electric bills. It should also reflect how much interest had already accrued on that bill deposit,” he said.

That way, Fuentebella noted, the customer would be properly apprised of how much pay-back he/she would be getting in the long run.

A bill deposit is collected from residential consumers to serve as “guarantee payment of bills” when they apply for a new or additional service with a DU – whether the privateowned ones or the electric cooperatives.

In its complaint against Meralco, NASECORE stipulated the lack of escrow account that the utility firm was supposed to maintain for its collected bill deposits.

The consumer advocacy group noted that “since the bill deposits serve as mere guarantee in the payment of bills, then it is mandatory for Meralco to have maintained a separate escrow account for this purpose.”