TAGUIG CITY — As part of continued efforts to uphold consumer welfare amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi earlier this week followed up on actions taken by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to resolve consumer complaints previously discussed with the company's executives.
"When I met with Meralco last May, I advised them to re-issue electricity bills based on actual meter readings and disregard previous bills that were made on estimated consumption. We met again in June to discuss their implementation plan, and at that time, I underscored the importance of properly and clearly communicating with their consumers. Meralco informed us then that they will be issuing advisories explaining the May and June billings through letters, social media posts, and print media notices," Secretary Cusi said.
In a letter dated 14 July 2020, Meralco President and CEO Ray C. Espinosa updated the Energy Secretary on how they have been addressing customer complaints, and provided a compliance status report on commitments made to the DOE; Energy Regulatory Commission; Joint Congressional Energy Commission; Senate and House Committees on Energy; and the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
Mr. Espinosa, in his letter, informed the Energy Chief that Meralco is "on target to deliver the 4.1 million personalized letters to customers explaining their May 2020 bills (based on actual meter reading) made even more laymanized than what we issued for the June bills". The delivery of said letters commenced on 10 July 2020, and will be completed by around 16 July 2020.
Furthermore, he added that to serve the customers better, “virtual agents” in select Bayad Center outlets within its franchise area were deployed so that the affected customers can talk to a Meralco employee via computer set up with regards to their billing concerns.
Additional manpower was also deployed to handle complaints in various digital channels such as emails, Facebook and Twitter.
Meralco also shouldered the Convenience Fee charged by the payment gateway provider for payments made through the Meralco online app or website for payment transactions between 15 March to 16 May, amounting to PhP 12.6 million for approximately 268,000 transactions.
Moving forward, Mr. Espinosa said, no convenience fees will be charged for Meralco online payments until the end of the General Community Quarantine.
According to Secretary Cusi, the DOE continues to receive a high volume of consumer complaints regarding their May/June Meralco bills. Thus, he considers the update a welcome development.
"We welcome Meralco's assurance that they have been acting upon the various issues being raised by consumers. In this time of pandemic, our people are plagued with concerns about their health and safety, as well as their job and financial security. The government and private sector should work hand-in-hand to alleviate, and not add to their burdens," the Energy Chief concluded.
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