Meralco ordered to pay damages to local firm for installing defective meter

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals has ordered the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to pay damages to a local company whose high electricity bill was due to the defective meter the Lopez-owned power firm installed. In a 12-page decision penned by Associate Justice Japar Dimaampao, the CA’s 15th Division ordered Meralco to pay P500,000 to petitioners lawyer P.M. Castillo and wife Guia, proprietors of Permanent Light, a 30-year-old business establishment engaged in the manufacture and sale of fluorescent fixtures, office steel cabinets and metal fabrications. The appellate court said the amount represents damages ensuing from the overcharged power rate from May 1994 to November 2001. The decision was a modification of a ruling by the Pasig City Regional Trial Court dated July 9, 2003, which directed Meralco to pay P1.38 million representing overpaid electric bills. The CA, however, said it cannot abide by Permanent Light’s computation of its overpayment based on its November 28 electric bill because it will be tantamount to speculation that it is the average monthly charge paid by the company. The Court pointed out that electric rates imposed and collected by Meralco also increased through the years. The appellate court also said that Meralco violated Section 97 of the Revised Order No. of the Public Service Commission. which mandates that a 48-hour notice be given to consumers prior to disconnection. “Accordingly, whatever evidence pertaining to the alleged tampered meter is rendered dubious because of appellant’s bad faith in capriciously disconnecting electric service to Permanent Light," the CA ruled. The CA also chided Meralco for not immediately looking into the complaint of the couple that their second meter was defective. “In our considered opinion, appellees convincingly established the dramatic increase in their electric bills with the installation of the second meter. We are simply confounded as to why appellant did not bother to present an iota of proof to refute the claim that this second meter was running at an unusually high speed," the CA said. - GMANews.TV