Thursday, August 28, 2008
Include refund notice in next bill: CH to Veco
By Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
THE Cebu City Council yesterday asked the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) to include a notice on the meter deposit refund when distributing the next billing statement for better dissemination.
It also told the utility firm to possibly exclude administrative use, or electricity consumption of all Veco buildings and structures, as system loss, which is currently being implemented.
City Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa, reacting to the discussion during a previous session attended by Veco officials, criticized the company for “trying to impress” upon them that Veco’s hands are tied and is just following what the law orders.
He said the law stipulates that administrative use “may be” included in the system loss charged to consumers, and was therefore not an order but an option Veco could exercise.
“We would like to echo and reecho the scandalous set up of including administrative loss to system loss, making it an income instead of an expense of the company,” said Abellanosa.
Industry
In yesterday’s regular session, City Councilors Hilario Davide III and Gerardo Carillo volunteered to “study the legislative intent” of Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Act of 2004, and submit a report in four weeks.
This was after questions were raised on how Veco will go about the distribution.
The metering charge was particularly mentioned, with City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. saying the law orders the refund of the meter deposit amounting to over P1,000, and allowed the payment of metering charge, which, in Abellanosa’s case, is P7,000 a month.
Councilor Jose Daluz III also wondered who will get the refund if the registered consumer already sold his house to another.
Councilor Nestor Archival Sr., on the other hand, asked how Veco will know that the ones receiving the refund are the right persons.
Yesterday, the council acceded to Vice Mayor Michael Rama’s suggestion that mere publication of the notice, a copy of which was included in yesterday’s council session agenda, was not enough especially that it came out in a local daily only once.
After the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordered a meter deposit refund last June, the Veco is giving consumers until Oct. 15 to inform it how they want to receive the amount.
Without any notice from their clients, the utility firm will simply debit the refunded amount from each consumer’s bill.
The charging of meter deposits was stopped with the promulgation of the Magna Carta for Residential Electricity Consumers on June 14, 2004.
A consumer has the option to receive the refund in cash, check, as credit in future monthly billings or to offset other dues and claims that Veco may have against the client.
If Veco will not get any feedback from the client, Veco will automatically have the refund credited to the November 2008 bill, or against any pending liability.
The registered Veco customer has until Oct. 15 to apply for the refund at the SM Cebu second floor office and to indicate his refund scheme preference.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 28, 2008 issue)
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