By Peter Tabingo and Jed Macapagal
THE Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) yesterday assured all its customers there will be no disconnection of services for any household or business in its concession area while an enhance community quarantine (ECQ) remains in effect in big parts of Luzon.
This developed as Meralco said it will shoulder the P47- convenience fee charged to customers who used their mobile app and website to pay bills covering the ECQ.
At the “Laging Handa” public briefing, Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga advised customers they can ignore the “estimated billing” they received earlier and simply pay the latest billing issued this week that is based on their actual power usage.
“We will keep the lights on. It is our commitment that there will be no disconnection of service to all households. They should not worry about that, we will not allow any disconnection while we are under an ECQ period,” Zaldarriaga said.
Meralco’s estimated billing received a lot of flak from customers with several complaining about the sudden spike in their bills during ECQ that started March compared to previous months.
“The estimated billings, they can set those aside. They should just wait for the actual meter readings on their consumption. That will contain the real cost of their power usage,” Zaldarriaga said.
“When the ECQ was announced last March 16, our meter readers also stopped going around. But for the first week of May our meter readers have been able to go out and get the actual consumption,” he said.
Zaldarriaga added Meralco is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission to iron out issues on the billings and arrive at the most favorable payment option for the customers.
“The March and April billings, those can be paid in an installment process. We will issue public advisories if there is further adjustment on our end. But rest assured, they will only be charged for their actual consumption,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a letter dated May 20, 2020 to DOE, Meralco president and chief executive officer Ray Espinosa said the company will shoulder the P47 convenience fee and will refund all customers who have paid via the app or website on bills during ECQ period .
Espinosa, however, clarified the convenience fee for bills paid via the Meralco app online payment facility goes through a payment gateway operated and maintained by PayMaya which charges the customer per transaction.
“No part of the convenience fee goes to Meralco. The charging of a convenience fee by a payment gateway provider like PayMaya is a common commercial practice in the online payment service industry,” Espinosa said.
He added that apart from the mobile app, bills can be paid in several channels including through over the counter transactions at Meralco business centers; Bayad Center branches and partners; authorized banks via over- the-counter, ATM machines, mobile banking or auto debit arrangement; and credit cards.
