Regulator tells Meralco to use unclaimed refunds
Credit to Author: JORDEENE B. LAGARE| Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 16:35:35 +0000
Unclaimed Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) refunds should be utilized by the distribution utility to lower power rates, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced on Tuesday.
Meralco was given 30 days from receipt of the order to submit a proposal on how the money could be used to reduce distribution charges, along with a detailed list of customers — including names and the amounts due.
A status of the refund program as of the end of last year, meanwhile, should be submitted within 10 days, the ERC said.
“It is incumbent upon Meralco to inform its customers immediately upon receipt of the ERC order through the publication in a newspaper of general circulation, for four consecutive weeks, of a notice to all consumers to claim their refund,” ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said in the statement.
The notice, along with the detailed customer list, should also be posted in all Meralco business offices.
The ERC order, docketed on February 4, primarily approved a Meralco petition to extend the refund period, the new deadline for which will be June 30, 2019.
Unclaimed refunds, the regulator said, should be deposited by Meralco in a separate interest-bearing account for “transparency and easy monitoring purposes.”
Sought for comment, a Meralco official said the firm still had to pay out some P4.4 billion, inclusive of withholding taxes remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, out of a gross refund of P30.2 billion.
“We will submit our proposal in due time,” Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said in a text message to The Manila Times.
The order covers a 2002 Supreme Court decision that upheld a ruling by the ERC’s predecessor, the Energy Regulatory Board, that found the utility guilty of overcharging consumers from 1994 to 1998. At the time of the high court order, Meralco said the amount it would have to refund was a little over P28 billion.
The ERC said Meralco had paid out P25.817 billion out of a gross refund amount of P30.229 billion as of end September last year, with P4.41 billion still to delivered to qualified customers.
The extension of the refund implementation period, the regulator said, “is without prejudice to the commission reviewing the total amount already refunded by Meralco, and any outstanding unclaimed balances, as part of its final confirmation”.
Earlier this month, the Finance department announced that the withholding tax on refunds due to Meralco customers had been lowered to 15 percent, from 25 percent for active clients and 32 percent for terminated contracts, in line with provisions of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.
“We are now in a new regulatory regime where consumer benefit is given primal consideration,” Devanadera said in the ERC statement.
“This new set of ERC Commission will see to it that consumers do not only get billed with just and reasonable rates but we will also ensure that they get the best value for their hard-earned money,” she added.
The ERC chief also urged all distribution utilities to “devise ways and means” to reduce power rates with Congress expected to approve the proposed “Murang Kuryente” law.
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