Electricity users who question the accuracy of their Meralco charges should not lose power while their disputes remain unresolved, Senator Risa Hontiveros argued on Friday, July 10.
The senator framed the issue as one of basic fairness, saying billing mistakes traced to faulty meter readings should not become the customer’s burden. “Hindi nila kasalanan na mali ang meter reading. Hindi konsyumers ang dapat mag-adjust,” she said in a statement.
Driving her appeal is a surge in reports from households that were handed steep bills tied to inaccurate readings. One case she pointed to involved a family charged for power usage during a vacation, even with their circuit breakers turned off. Meralco eventually admitted a meter reader had made the mistake.
Despite such admissions, the Energy Regulatory Commission has told disputing customers they must settle the contested amounts under protest to keep their service connected while investigations proceed. Hontiveros questioned why that approach appears to favor the utility.
“Bakit parang inuuna pa ang interes ng Meralco? Hindi naman siguro sila malulugi sa unpaid contested bills. Pero ang mga kababayan natin na di handa sa biglang lobo ng babayaran ay lalong mahihirapang magbudget,” she said.
Requiring upfront payment on a legitimate dispute strips families of money meant for other essentials, she added. “They could have used the money for other needs that month,” the lawmaker said.
Hontiveros also flagged a gap in existing law. While the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers secures the right to accurate metering and offers avenues to challenge wrong bills, she noted it stops short of barring collection of disputed charges or service cutoffs while a case is still pending.
To probe the scope of the problem and examine current safeguards, the senator said she intends to file a resolution tasking the Senate Committee on Energy with a legislative inquiry into the reported meter-reading errors and billing disputes.
Pressing the regulator to act, Hontiveros said protecting consumers falls squarely within its duties. “ERC should do something about this. Mandato nila na pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng mga consumers. Dapat tiyakin nila na may mabilis, patas, at epektibong proseso sa pagresolba ng billing disputes, at hindi nalalagay sa alanganin ang mga konsyumer,” she said.
