Meralco advises customers to pay bills with actual meter reading

The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) on Friday said its consumers have the choice to defer payment of their May bills until they receive new ones that were "actually read."

During the Joint Congressional Energy Commission hearing, Senator Risa Hontiveros raised the question that has since been haunting many Meralco customers.

"Kailangan bang bayaran na itong buong bill—'yung shock bill, 'yung heart attack bill na natanggap ng May or hintayin na lang 'yung next bill kung saan nakadetalye na doon 'yung four or six amortizations until September or November this year?" the senator asked.

Meralco vice president and head for Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications Victor Genuino responded that customers have the option to wait for the updated bills "that will clearly explain the installment period."

"The best way po talaga, moving forward, is to wait for the bills that have been actually read. That's why we're endeavouring ho to really be more deliberate in sending our meter readers para ho ang magiging basehan ay 'yung actual na talaga hong nabasahan," Genuino said, noting that Meralco's meter-reading activities partially resumed on April 11 for commercial customers and April 27 for residential ones.

Earlier in the day, the Energy Regulatory Commission directed all distribution utilities to "conduct actual meter readings and thereafter issue a new billing reflecting the actual consumption and the corresponding amount due, not later than 8 June 2020, except when actual reading is not possible due to the implementation of community quarantine."

A few days ago, the ERC also ordered Meralco to explain how it computed the consumption of its captive customers during the enhanced community quarantine, following complaints of alleged high billings.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga previously explained that the latest bills received by customers reflect the full impact of the enhanced community quarantine, while that of the previous months (March and April) were based on average consumption because of suspended meter-reading activities.

"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 said. —LDF, GMA News