Meralco explains May bills, says amounts ‘reflect full ECQ impact’

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Thursday responded to customer reports that their bills have substantially increased during the month.

According to Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga, the latest bills reflect the full impact of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), while the previous months were based on average consumption.

"The March and April bills were based on the previous 3 months consumption per the ERC advisory, before ECQ where consumption was much lower," he said in a mobile message.

"However what was billed in May will be the actual of May which reflects full ECQ impact (people are on lockdown and consume more) plus the adjustments from March and April thus the higher actual consumption as reflected in the bills," he added.

Metro Manila, along with several "high-risk" areas in the Meralco service area, has been on lockdown since March 17. The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has since been extended several times to last until May 31.

With the lockdown, Meralco suspended meter reading activities, but a skeleton force resumed such operations on April 18 for corporate and BIZ customers; and May 6 for residential customers.

Given this, the billing was estimated based on the average of three months' consumption. For example, the March bill was based on the consumption in December, January, and February.

The bills for March and April were then reflected in the May statement, but Meralco has since clarified that this may be paid on an installment basis.

"[T]he March + April bills can be paid in four equal installments no earlier than May 30," said Zaldarriaga.

The clarification came after several netizens posted their May bills online, reflecting a significant increase for the month compared with the previous months.

P1.77M bill 'fake news'

Meralco also slammed claims that charges for a certain household skyrocketed to P1.773 million for a single household, which it tagged as 'fake news.'

According to the company, the bill was for an account by SM Development Corp. (SMDC), which operates commercial and residential real estate projects.

Meralco said the bill covered only one SMDC account, but this account had multiple service identification numbers (SIN), and the total bill covered all unpaid bills of all the services under the account.

For inquiries, Meralco said customers may message them via their social media pages, or call them in their 24/7 hotline 16211. They can also text 09209716211 for Smart, 09257716211 for Sun, and 09175516211 for Globe subscribers. — BM, GMA News