(Last of 4 Parts)
Article 24. Right to Witness apprehension. – Subject to the provisions of RA 7832, all apprehensions for illegal use of electricity must be personally witnessed by the customer or occupant or someone of suitable age and discretion residing therein and acting in behalf of the owner or occupant of the premises, and by an officer of the law or by an ERC representative.
Article 25. Right to ERC Testing of Apprehended Meter. – In case the apprehension is witnessed by an officer of the law and not by an ERC authorized representative, the electric meter subject of the offense must be placed in a suitable container, properly identified and sealed, and shall be opened only for testing by the ERC’s duly authorized representative.
Upon removal, the apprehended meter shall be immediately replaced by the distribution utility with an accurate electric watthour meter. However, no disconnection of electric service shall be effected until the ERC issues a meter test report showing that the meter was indeed tampered.
Article 26. Right to Payment under Protest. – In cases of regular electric bills or billing adjustments due to the stoppage or failure of the meter to register the full and correct amount of energy consumed, or differential billing due to alleged illegal use of electricity, the consumer shall have the right to pay under protest for purposes of continuous supply of electricity by the utility without prejudice to a complaint to be filed by such customer against the imposition of the bill or billing adjustment or differential billing. Such payment shall not be construed as an admission by the consumer of the allegations or claims of the distribution utility or any violation of law or of the contract with the distribution utility.
Article 27. Right to File Complaints before ERC. – Every consumer has the right to file a complaint before the ERC for violation of ERC laws, rules, regulations, guidelines and policies, including but not limited to RA 9136 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, RA 7832 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations and ERB Resolution No. 95-21, as amended; Provided, That the complainant has previously discussed/consulted the issue with the Consumer Welfare Desk {CWD} Officer or representative of the concerned distribution utility and no settlement has been reached.
CHAPTER III. CONSUMER OBLIGATIONS
Article 28. Obligation to Pay Bill Deposit. – A bill deposit from all residential customers to guarantee payment of bills shall be required of new and/or additional service.
The amount of the bill deposit shall be equivalent to the estimated billing for one month. Provided that after (1) year and every year thereafter, when the actual average monthly bills are more or less than the initial bill deposit, such deposit shall be correspondingly increased/decreased to approximate said billing.
Distribution utilities shall pay interest on bill deposits equivalent to the interest incorporated in the calculation of their Weighed Average Cost of Capital (WACC), otherwise the bill deposit shall earn an interest per annum in accordance with the prevailing interest rate for savings deposit as approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The interests shall be credited yearly to the bills of the registered customer.
In cases where the customer has previously received the refund of his bill deposit pursuant to Article 7, and later defaults in the payment of his monthly bills, the customer shall be required to post another bill deposit with the distribution utility and lose his right to avail of the right to refund his bill deposit in the future until termination of service.
Failure to pay the required bill deposit shall be a ground for disconnection of electric service.
Article 29. Obligation to Allow inspection, installation & Removal of Electricity Apparatus – Customers shall allow the employees and/or representatives of the distribution utility to enter their premises for the purpose of inspecting, installing, reading, testing, repairing, maintaining, removing, replacing, or otherwise disposing of its apparatus and property, and/or removing the distribution utility’s entire property in the event of the termination of he electricity service contract; and for disconnection of service for non-payment of bills or violation of contract (VOC).
Provided, however, that only authorized employees and/or representatives of the distribution utility with proper identification cards shall be allowed to make any external adjustments of any meter or any internal or external adjustments of any other pieces of apparatus owned by the distribution utility.
Article 30. Obligation tom Allow the Construction of Poles, Line & Article – Consumer shall allow the distribution utility, if necessary, to conduct its poles, lines and circuits and place its transformers, apparatus on their property or within the building of the consumer, at a point or points convenient for such purpose.
The customer shall allow the distribution utility to use a suitable space for the installation of necessary metering equipment in order that such equipment will be protected from damaged by the elements, or though the negligence or deliberate of any person or persons.
Article 31. Obligation to Receive Monthly Bills. - Consumers must accept their electric bills, without prejudice to the exercise of their pay under protest pursuant to Article 26 of this Magna Carta in order to contest the same.
Article 32. Obligation to Pay the Billing Monthly Electric Bills. - Consumers must pay their bills not later than (9) days after receipt of the monthly bill.
Article 33. Obligation to Pay Billing Adjustments. – A consumer may be compelled to pay a billing adjustment in case there is a stoppage or failure by the customer’s meter to register the full amount of energy consumed without any fault on the part of the customer.
In the event that a meter in service is found to have an average error of more than the tolerance of minus two percent (2%) without any evidence of tampering by the customer, the utility may ask for payment of a billing adjustment from its customers of the unregistered consumption. If the said electric meter was merely found to be defective and has not completely stopped, and such defect could not be easily detected by the concerned customer, the distribution utility may only be allowed to recover the unregistered consumption for a maximum period of six (6) months prior to the discovery of the defect. In cases where there is actual stoppage or any conspicuous defect of the said meter, the distribution utility may only be allowed to recover the unregistered consumption for a maximum period of three (3) months prior to such discovery of the stoppage.
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs, the distribution utility may recover the full amount of the unregistered consumption if it has been complying with the two-year meter testing requirement under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7832, otherwise known as the Anti-Electricity Pilferage Act; Provided however, that the recovery period should not go beyond the period from the last testing of the meter prior to the date of discovery utility, however, must enter into an agreement with the customer for staggered payment scheme within a period equivalent to the number of months covering the billing adjustment.
The refund or billing adjustment should be based on the rate prevailing during the period of sought to be recovered, and the estimated consumption shall be based upon the result of the ERC test on the affected meter during the time of discovery, or his average use of energy for the immediately preceding six-month period of like use, or the lowest monthly consumption within three (3) months after the time of discovery.
In case of disagreement on such bill, the Commission shall resolve the same.
Article 34. Obligation not to Commit Illegal Use of Electricity. – No consumer is allowed to perform acts constituting illegal use of electricity. The following circumstances constitute prima facie evidence of illegal use of electricity:
(a) The presence of a board hole on the glass cover of the electric meter, or at the back or any part of said meter;
(b) The presence inside the electric meter of salt, sugar and other elements that could result in the inaccurate registration of the meter’s internal parts to prevent its accurate registration of consumption of electricity.
(c) The existence of any wiring connection which affects the normal operation or registration of the electric meter;
(d) The presence of a tampered, broken, or fake seal on the meter, or mutilated, altered or tampered meter recording chart or graph or computerized chart, graph or log;
(e) The presence in any part of a building or its premises which is subject to the control of the consumer, or on the electric meter, of a current reversing transformer, jumper, shorting and/or shunting wire, and/or loop connection or any other similar device;
(f) The mutilation, alteration, reconnection, disconnection, bypassing or tampering of instruments, transformers and accessories;
(g) The destruction of, or attempt to destroy, any integral accessory of the metering device box which encases an electric meter, or its metering accessories.
(h) The acceptance of money and/or other valuable consideration by any officer or employee of the electric utility concerned or the making of such an offer to any such officer or employee for not reporting the presence of any of the circumstances enumerated in subparagraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), or (g) hereof.
The discovery of any of the foregoing circumstances must be personally witnessed and attested to by an officer of the law or a duly authorized representative of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
Article 35. Obligation to Pay Differential Billing. – A consumer who is discovered to have committed the offense of illegal use of electricity shall, in addition to the imposition of appropriate penal sanction, be required to pay a differential billing to the electric distribution utility to be computed in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations.
The period to be recovered for the purpose of computing the differential billing shall be subject to the following rules:
1. If prior to the date of discovery, there was a change of meter, change of seal or reconnection, or replacement of parts, or it can be determined when an abrupt or abnormal drop in consumption occurred, the period to be recovered for purposes of the differential billing should be reckoned from the time when the said changes, inspection or reconnection occurred, which may result in a less than a year period of recovery.
2. Furthermore, if the concerned consumer presents indubitable and adequate proof that the occurrence of the illegal use of electricity is for a period which could be less than a year, then for purposes of calculating the differential billing, the recoverable period shall start from the occurrence of the illegal use up to the time of apprehension.
3. in the absence of the two aforementioned circumstances, the distribution utility may be allowed to recover the differential billing up to maximum of sixty (60) billing months up to the time of discovery.
CHAPTER IV. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 36. Implementation. – Implementation of Articles 7, 8 and 28 shall be subject to Guidelines to be promulgated and approved by the Commission.
Article 37. Violation. – A violation of any provision of this Magna Carta shall be subject to penalty which the Commission, after giving the electric utility or consumer the opportunity to be heard, may impose in accordance with law.
Article 38. Separability Clause. – If any provisions of this Code is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect.
Article 39. Repealing Clause. – Provisions of ERB Res. No. 95-21 as amended, rules, regulations, guidelines and other issuances not expressly revised by this Magna Carta shall remain in force and effect.
Article 40. Effectivity. – This Code shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the country.
Pasig City, June 17, 2004
(Sgd.) RODOLFO B. ALBANO, JR.
(Sgd.) OLIVER B. BUTALID (Sgd.) CARLOS R. ALINDADA
Commissioner Commissioner
(Sgd.) LETICIA V. IBAY (Sgd.) JESUS N. ALCORDO
Commissioner Commissioner
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