Meralco consumers, led by the Power for People Coalition on Thursday called on the government to impose a moratorium on bills payment on electricity of household consumers until the quarantine due to COVID-19 has been completely lifted and the issue of bill shock has been resolved.
The group made the call ahead of a scheduled hearing in the House of Representatives on Meralco’s bill shock.
“Almost half of Filipinos are out of work. We have lost almost a fifth of our GDP and entered the worst recession in our country’s history. The threat of Covid-19 continues to stalk our countrymen. Yet Meralco continues to mercilessly bill its customers even as it also holds on to the money they received from overbilling them in the past,” said Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor, in a statement.
The P4P led calls for an inquiry on Meralco as consumers were hit with record high bills, called bill shock, even as consumers suffered through power interruptions during the enhanced community quarantine period.
“Meralco cannot say they need the money. They want the money of course, but they already have 19 billion in refunds never returned, the meter and bill deposits of consumers amounting to 28.5 billion which they use for their operations without compensation for the owners of the money, and its force majeure clause on power contracts,” said Arances.
The P4P billed Meralco ₱19.126 billion in May for the balance of the 2003 Supreme Court-ordered refund it has yet to return, plus interest, but Meralco declined to comment on the matter.
“Everyone is being called to make sacrifices at this difficult time. It is only fair that the largest distribution utility in the country, considering its history of overbilling and profiteering at the consumers’ expense, should at least for once, consider the plight of poor households who are now struggling to survive. Bigyan sana ng konting liwanag ang buhay nila,” said Arances.