ERC can require bill deposits from consumers — SC
![ERC can require bill deposits from consumers — SC](https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2020/11/supreme_court_2020_11_26_16_07_04.jpg)
The Supreme Court has upheld the authority of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to require consumers to pay bill deposits as security for their electric bills.
“The imposition of bill deposits as security for payment of electricity bills is a valid exercise of ERC’s rate-fixing power to ensure the economic viability of distribution utilities,” the SC En Banc said in a 32-page decision.
It issued the remark as it denied the petition challenging the ERC’s authority to allow distribution utilities, such as the Manila Electric Company, to collect bill deposits from their consumers.
Under the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers, which was promulgated in 2004, residential consumers are required to pay bill deposits as guarantee for their electric payments.
In 2007, the ERC issued guidelines to operationalize the collection and refund procedures of bill deposits.
Meanwhile, the petitioners assailed the legality of the provision on bill deposits under the Magna Carta in 2019, arguing that the bill deposit requirement lacked adequate regulations.
The SC denied the petition for being non-justiciable and for violation of the doctrine of hierarchy of courts.
The SC said the petition must also be dismissed because it is not yet ripe for adjudication.
“While we recognize the far-reaching implications of the petition, we cannot rule on these issues without issuing an advisory opinion,” the SC said.
“There is no practical value in ruling on these issues and no substantial relief can be accorded to petitioners. Judicial intervention on these issues is premature because the rules on bill deposits have yet to be finalized by the ERC,” it added.
The decision, penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, was promulgated in October 2024 but published only in January 2025.—AOL, GMA Integrated News