ERC to extend bill payment suspension for poor households to six months

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will extend the suspension of payment due dates of residential consumers utilizing 200kWh per month to six months from four amid the COVID-19 pandemic, its chairperson, Agnes Devanadera, said Thursday.

Appearing at a Senate hearing, Devanadera said the concerned segment of residential consumers has low income and is struggling to go to work amid the strict quarantine measures being implemented due to the pandemic.

"We already issued an advisory of suspension of payment in four months, with bills which due dates fall within enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to be paid in four months in equal installment upon the lifting of the ECQ. But we are issuing another one to cover MECQ (modified ECQ) areas,” Devanadera said.

"The advisory we are issuing will state that the four-month moratorium will remain applicable to all, but for those residential clients consuming 200 kilowatt per month in MECQ areas, we are extending the suspension of payment dues for six months, to be paid in six months in equal installment upon the lifting of the MECQ," she added.

Devanadera noed that "there is very little difference" between ECQ and modified ECQ.

"There is still no access to public transportation, and in our minds, these consumers are the daily wage earners and those from the informal sector who are yet to have access to gainful employment," she said.

The ECQ measure banned mass transport and prohibited mass gathering from March 16 to May 15, resulting in work stoppages in many industries.

The modified ECQ, meanwhile, allows 50% of the workforce of each company to physically report back to work, but mass transport remains prohibited. It took effect May 16 and will last until the end of the month.

"We want to help the targeted beneficiaries consuming 200 kilowatt per month because these are those who do not have air-conditioned units, and only have basic electrical equipment," said Devanadera, a former Justice Secretary.

"These [people] are now the lifeliners." --KBK, GMA News