‘Token Penalty' Should Not Revive Billing Dispute

The problem of disputed billings of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) came up last May when customers, under lockdown since March, received their bills for the previous months. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) had issued a directive that distribution services like Meralco may use the rule on estimated billing with the word “estimate” written on the bill and stating that the corresponding adjustments will be made as soon as practicable.

The subsequent complaints became the subject of a Senate hearing in which Meralco said its estimates had been based on previous bills for the months of December and January when, it said, consumption was lower than in the summer months.

Nevertheless, in the wake of the complaints, Meralco withdrew all disputed billings for the first six months of the year 2020. Customers would be paying ₱1.06 per kilowatt-hour less than what they paid for the first six months of the previous year 2019.