Consumer groups want probe over alleged overcharging by Visayan Electric

Members of different consumer groups rip off their electric bills amidst allegations of overcharging by Visayan Electric during the enhanced community quarantine. | Delta Dyrecka Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Consumer groups in Cebu have opened an online signature campaign for the public to participate in to urge the Congress and the Senate to probe the alleged overcharging of electricity bills by Visayan Electric (formerly VECO) during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The Cebu Concerned Consumers Association (CCCA), the People’s Overnight Watchdog for Energy Reform (POWER), and Konsumo – Cebu joined in with Edward Ligas, an international boxing judge, and radioman, in calling out Visayan Electric for the surcharges in the bill during the quarantine period.

Ligas has filed a complaint before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) after his monthly bill charges doubled during the implementation of the lockdown due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“Instead of explaining in public the reason for the additional charges during the ECQ, VECO preferred that consumers risk wasting hours of queuing to separately ask about their bills. Repeated inquiries using their co-called hotlines or even questions coursed through their public information officer were ignored. We thus ask, why the absence of transparency?” said the group.

Ligas said that Visayan Electric’s response to his complaint to the ERC was also unsatisfactory insisting that he failed to pay a month worth of bill, prompting them to release a disconnection notice.

The media personality said he will be attaching the complaints of other individuals in his response statement to prove that he was not alone in the “peculiar” situation.

Aside fromt this, the group has written to Senators Vicente Sotto, Sherwin Gatchalian, Emmanuel Pacquiao, and Risa Hontiveros, to conduct a probe on the multiple incidents of overcharging of customers by the electric company.

Visayan Electric is the biggest power provider in the region, and the group said the issue may need a national intervention.

In Cebu, Ligas said that a board member of the provincial government said that they may be able to conduct an investigation over these overcharging complaints.

The group will also submit a complaint to the provincial government to jumpstart this probe.

The consumer group is hoping that all victims of overcharging will come forth and sign the online petition.

In their statement, Visayan Electric said that due to the Data Privacy Act, they cannot publicly discuss details of individual accounts of customers in public.

“This is the reason why we are asking our customers to address their concerns through our customer service centers, our customer service hotline 230-8326 or through our FB and Twitter pages so that we can discuss your inquiries with you directly,” said the electric company.

Visayan Electric also said that the implementation of the installment payments for the ECQ bills was mandated by the Energy Regulatory Commission to all electric utilities as a way to help electricity consumers pay for their bills despite the difficulties experienced during this pandemic.

“As with all other utilities, Visayan Electric bills are based on the customers’ usage of electricity. All customers who had bills that were estimated during the lockdown were adjusted as soon as actual readings were made. Any amount paid that was beyond the actual reading was either refunded or considered as advance payment, depending on the customer’s preference,” they said.

They also assured customers that should errors be found during the verification process, Visayan Electric will make adjustments to correct such errors. /rcg