Meralco
SA gitna ng mga reklamo dahil sa biglaang paglobo ng bayarin sa kuryente, ipinaalala ng Bayan Muna ang P108 bilyong overcharges, over-recoveries at bill deposits na dapat i-reimburse ng Manila Electric Company sa mga kustomer nito.
Ayon kay Neri Colmenares, chairman ng Bayan Muna, ang sobrang singil na ito ay dapat naibalik na ng Meralco noon pa.
“In this time of great difficulty and need, it is unconscionable for Meralco to continue holding on to these funds that do not belong to it anyway,” ani Colmenares. “It’s equally dismaying that the ERC has not acted on these Meralco violations despite the persistent complaints of its customers over the years.”
Kung wala umanong gagawin ang Meralco ay dapat umaksyon ang Energy Regulatory Commission.
“The return of these amounts should not stop the ERC from forcing Meralco to refund also excess charges that it has imposed during the period when we were under an enhanced community quarantine,” dagdag pa ni Colmenares.
Sinabi naman ni Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate na malaki ang maitutulong ng refund sa mga ordinaryong Filipino ngayong marami ang hindi nakakapagtrabaho dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic.
“No less than Alfredo Non, former ERC commissioner, blew the whistle in January this year and exposed the P40 billion to P50 billion in Meralco overcharges. The former electricity regulator said that Meralco padded the cost of its assets to justify over-recovery collections for more than a decade and a half,” ani Zarate.
Minamipula rin umano ng Meralco ang mga datos upang mas malaki ang makolekta nito.
“….between 2013 and 2018, Meralco likewise made its customers pay a larger share of distribution cost by basing this cost on lower 3.5 percent sales growth projection and lower annual electricity sales of 30.61 billion kilowatt-hours,” saad ni Zarate. “But Meralco’s annual electricity sales actually grew at an average of 6.78 percent per year in the last 9 years, allowing it to amass an estimated P29.6 billion in undue revenues.”