Consumer group asks ERC to look into Meralco's convenience fee

The National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, Inc. (NASECORE) has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to look into the convenience fee being charged by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) when using its mobile application to pay for electricity bills.

Ilagan NASECORE national president Pete Ilagan said Meralco did inform the ERC regarding the P47 convenience fee, thus it is “tantamount to abuse of market power.”

Ilagan added it is a subject of penalty under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

“Ang dapat nilang gawin, ito ay maging subject ng application sa commission upang magkaroon ng public hearing at magkaroon ng due process,” Ilagan said in Tina Panganiban-Perez’s 24 Oras report on Wednesday.

“Dahil sa hindi nila ginawa ‘yan, ‘yan ay tantamount to abuse of market power which is a subject of penalty under the EPIRA,” he added.

While the ERC has yet to respond to GMA News, the Department of Energy has also asked Meralco to explain the additional fee.

“Parang hindi po naging convenience ito, parang naging pabigat sa bulsa ng ating mga consumers,” Energy secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

Meanwhile, Meralco clarified that the company does not earn from the convenience fee in the application.

“That is the fee that goes to the payment platform to the one facilitating the online payment, ‘yong third party online payment platform,” Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said.

“Tatanungin naman sa’yo kung do you want to proceed kasi kung ayaw mo naman mag-proceed, if you don’t want to pay the 47 pesos, that’s okay, you can utilize other options as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, NASECORE also said Meralco should not ask for payments now that the country is under quarantine.

“Naniniwala tayo na dapat walang singilan ngayon, ngayong buwan na ito sa loob ng ECQ period. Ang dapat na singilan ay pagkatapos ng tatlumpung araw pagkatapos ng ECQ,” Ilagan said.

Earlier, many Meralco customers have complained that their bills have substantially increased during the month of May.

Meralco, however, assured its customers that it will not issue any disconnection notice amid the quarantine period.

Meralco also explained that the latest bills reflect the full impact of the enhanced community quarantine, while the previous months were based on average consumption.

Zaldarriaga said the March and April bills were based on the previous three months consumption before the ECQ, when consumption was lower. —Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News