(Eagle News) — Leftists on Tuesday, April 29, asked the Supreme Court to ban Manila Electric Corp. from imposing and collecting funds from customers that will make up the bill deposits.
In a petition for certiorari, Neri Colmenares, Bayan Muna partlist Rep. Carlos Zarate, Anakpawis partylist Rep. Ariel Casilao, Gabriela Reps. Emerenciana de Jesus and Arlene Brosas, ACT Teachers partylist Rep. Francisca Castro, Kabataan partylist Rep. Sarah Elago and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. also asked the High Court to declare as illegal and void the bill deposit provisions in the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers and the Energy Regulatory Commission’s Resolution No. 28, series of 2010, and to order Meralco to refund the bill deposits to its customers, arguing that they were an “unjust charge that is being used” by the electricity firm “to boost its profits through a commingling scheme that is also unjust and illegal within the framework of the EPIRA and the Meralco franchise.”
“The bill deposit is a burden to many consumers. It is supposed to be a guarantee for the payment of bills, held in trust by Meralco. In reality, it has become an oppressive exaction and a multi-billion money-making scheme,” the group said.
Pending resolution of the High Court of the said provisions, the group asked the SC to, in the alternative, prohibit and declare as illegal the “commingling of bill deposit funds with Meralco’s general fund,” the “use by Meralco of bill deposit funds for other purposes,” and to order the ERC and Meralco to “pay to the consumers the interest rate actually earned by the bill deposit.”
The group also asked the High Court to order the Commission on Audit to conduct an audit of all the funds collected from the consumers since the imposition of the bill deposit requirement, among others, and to order the ERC to publish the report on the status of the bill deposits collected by all distribution utilities nationwide. Moira Encina
