State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., whose board of directors is chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, warned 11 electric cooperatives of civil and criminal charges for their alleged failure to remit P238.3 million worth of universal charges that they collected from consumers.
PSALM said in a statement over the weekend about P238.3 million collected by these cooperatives from electricity consumers as universal charge was not remitted to the agency, which is the administrator of the universal charge.
PSALM said it sent out final demand letters to the cooperatives with a stern warning that aside from being liable for interest charges, these cooperatives and their officers would face civil, administrative and criminal charges.
PSALM said the universal charge is a non-bypassable charge collected from electricity consumers on a monthly basis by distribution utilities including cooperatives for the recovery of stranded debts, stranded contract costs of the National Power Corp. and other mandated purposes under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
“Such universal charge collections must be remitted to PSALM as administrator on or before the 15th day of the succeeding month together with the required reports,” it said.
PSALM reminded delinquent cooperatives that every month of non-remittance of universal charge to PSALM represented a count of violation of the Epira law which is punishable by fines and penalties of up to P50 million.
It said the directors and officers who allowed such violation by the cooperatives would be liable for imprisonment of up to two years and/or fine of double the amount of the damages caused.
It said a patent refusal to comply with the Epira law might further expose officers to a fine of up to P5 million and/or imprisonment of up to six years.
PSALM said the non-remittance of universal charge was also tantamount to estafa by misappropriation under the Revised Penal Code and thus punishable by imprisonment of up to 20 years.
“Non-remittance of universal charge collections to PSALM is a fraud perpetrated against the consumers who paid for the UC and against the government that is mandated to use the UC in accordance with Epira. PSALM will continue to relentlessly pursue all efforts to collect what is legally due to it. It will not allow delinquent coops to get away with illegal use and misappropriation of the UC collections,” it said.
PSALM said Camarines Sur III Electric Cooperative Inc. topped the list of the 11 delinquent coops with the highest un-remitted universal charge collections amounting to P66.281 million. The demand letter was addressed to Casureco chairman Ana Sylvia Alsisto and other officers.
It was followed by Albay Electric Cooperative Inc. headed by supervisor Omar Mayo and operations manager Belinda Pempena with unremitted universal charge collections of P40.6 million. Abra Electric Cooperative Inc. headed by chairman Gloria Corrales had the third biggest unremitted amount of P36.886 million.
PSALM also called out electric coops for refusing to submit the required monthly UC collection reports to the agency. It said the non-submission of such reports was a violation of the universal charge guidelines issued by the ERC.