Meralco won’t get away with steep electric bills under MECQ

FILE: Meralco (López) Building along Ortigas Avenue, Pasig, Metro Manila. (Photo By Lainecedillo/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA – Malacañang is confident that Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) will not charge subscribers with excessively high electric bills in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that since Meralco did not get away with charging jacked up fees in the past, the same would be true despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to revert Metro Manila, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite and Bulacan to MECQ.

“Hindi na po siguro mauulit ‘yan dahil hindi naman sila nakalusot nung unang pagkakataon (I don’t think it would happen again because they didn’t get away the first time it happened),” Roque said in a virtual Palace briefing on Monday.

He said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) was swift in addressing subscribers’ concerns, even asking Meralco to give them refunds.

Meralco subscribers have been complaining about the sudden spike in their electricity bills since community quarantine was imposed in the country.

Lawmakers accused the power utility giant of overcharging since no meter reading took place during the quarantine.

There were also allegations over the lack of transparency on how the bills were calculated.

As of end-June, Meralco said it has already completed meter readings.

Currently, electric bills dispatched are already based on actual meter readings.

Meralco also vowed to refund overpayments that it had collected from its 6.9 million subscribers especially during the questioned billing months of March to May this year.

The power utility giant said it has been tending to subscriber complaints by answering questions on their electricity consumption, especially during the quarantine period.

Roque earlier said President Rodrigo Duterte has raised concern over the excessive electricity bills of Meralco.

On Sunday night, Duterte heeded medical front-liners’ call to revert to a more stringent quarantine classification to prevent a collapse in the country’s healthcare system.