MERALCO‘s customers will now have the option to pay their electricity bills at installment plans, according to an announcement on their social media page.
Customers whose bills were deferred for the past three months as part of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) will be given interest-free installment plans of varying terms. The installment plans are based from their February 2020 bills, which are broken down below:
- For customers whose bills are below 200kWh, the bills for March, April, and May will be split into six installments every month from June 15 to November 15.
- For customers whose bills are above 200kWh, the bills for March, April, and May will be split into four installments every month from June 15 to September 15.
Meralco will send bills for those expecting their May bills once their meters have been read, and the adjusted readings have been recorded. The electric company reminds its customers to pay for the bills beginning in June at full value, otherwise, they will be forced to cut the electricity of their customers as part of their service.
The installment payments announcement arrives after an Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Advisory has been announced, requiring electric companies to provide relief for their consumers at the time of the pandemic. MERALCO was also strongly criticized online after bills for May 2020 showed up with substantially double or triple the normal consumption. The company defends the bills as actual meter readings, as they were not able to read meters for the past two months due to the Enhanced Community Quarantine guidelines.
