I just received another bill from Meralco. Immediately, the joy from the festive season disappeared as I was reminded of the amount I have to pay. It is not the amount to be paid that irritates me—it is the fact that it should be a few thousand pesos less.
Somehow, I wonder why consumers do not seem to care because very few raised the issues to the ERC. Even the media showed no concern at all for this plight of the consumers. Except for one entity, the expose fell on deaf ears. I wonder, is there really no story or, is the value of stories from distribution utility owners more valuable?
During the past 10 years, consumers have been paying more than they should. As a result, Meralco is able to unduly accumulate funds from consumers giving it a very big advantage. By accumulating the funds, it is like borrowing funds with no contract, no collateral, no interest, and no repayment period. Even if ERC eventually decides to order Meralco to implement a refund, this normally comes in the form of bill reduction over a period of 12 to 24 months.
Meralco is a listed company. Any effect of this overbilling and subsequent correction on the traded Meralco shares needs to be resolved and known to the investing public as soon as possible to avoid any untoward situation in the stock exchanges.