ILOILO – Consumers have the right to complain.
“Mamati gid kami, we are open,” according to Engineer Miguel Paguntalan, general manager of Iloilo Electric Cooperative 1 (ILECO 1).
Republic Act No. 9136 or the Magna Carta for Residential Consumers grants consumers such right, Paguntalan told Panay News.
“Kon ano man ang ila hinun-ananon or grievances, we will always listen and we always find solutions. Kon puede lang masolbar sang isa ka adlaw ang problema I will do it,” Paguntalan added.
Brownouts – mostly unscheduled – and inaccurate billing are mostly the complaints. Lately, ILECO 1’s high electricity rate compared to that in Iloilo City was also raised.
Paguntalan said there are two kinds of brownouts. The first is the scheduled brownout where concerned barangays and local government units are informed beforehand, especially when doing clearing operations, retiring old posts, replacing copper wires, changing transformers, and fixing accessories.
Unscheduled brownouts, meanwhile, occur due to wires being cut or lines short-circuiting, circumstances which Paguntalan said they have no control over.
“Indi naton gusto nga mag-amo sina. Wala sang coop nga gusto mag-brownout…daw pareho man lang nga gin-untat mo negosyo mo, wala kaw income,” Paguntalan said.
As to the accuracy of electric bills, Paguntalan pointed to three possible factors: error in the reading of the meters, a mistake in the encoding of bills, or a defect in the meter itself.
ILECO 1 has around 170,000 consumers, 135,000 of which are residential while the rest are industrial.
These ILECO 1 consumers are from 15 municipalities in Iloilo province which are Oton, San Joaquin, Tigbauan, Tubungan, Miag-ao, Igbaras, and Guimbal in the 1st District; Alimodian, Pavia, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Leon, and Leganes in the 2nd District; and Cabatuan and Maasin in the 3rd District.
The consumer rights under the Magna Carta for Residential Consumers are the following:
* Right to electric service;
* Right to a refund of bill deposits;
* Exemption from payment of meter deposits;
* Right to an accurate electric watt-hour meter; determination of average error;
* Right to refund of over-billings;
* Right to a properly installed meter;
* Right to a meter testing by electric utility and/or Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC);
* Right to a prompt investigation of complaints; customer dealings;
* Right to extension of line and facilities;
* Right to information; scheduled power interruptions;
* Right to a transparent billing;
* Right to a monthly electricity bill;
* Right to due process prior to disconnection of electric service;
* Right to a notice prior to disconnection;
* Right to suspension of disconnection;
* Right to tender payment at the point of disconnection; deposit representing the differential billing;
* Right to electric service despite arrearages of previous tenant;
* Right to reconnection of electric service;
* Right to witness apprehension;
* Right to ERC testing of apprehended meter;
* Right to payment under protest; and
* Right to file complaints before ERC.
Meanwhile, here are the consumer obligations:
* Obligation to pay bill deposit;
* Obligation to allow inspection, installation and removal of electricity apparatus;
* Obligation to allow the construction of poles, lines and circuits;
* Obligation to receive monthly bills;
* Obligation to pay monthly electric bills;
* Obligation to pay billing adjustments;
* Obligation not to commit illegal use of electricity; and
* Obligation to pay differential billing.
“Isa man ka responsibilidad sang konsumidor nga please pay your bill. Indi na kinahanglan nga i-penalize kon prompt payee ka. Kon daw alang-alang ka gid, you can prove nga daw alang-alang gid imo nga inogbayad,” Paguntalan said.
He added: “We can always understand pero indi lang nila pag-exploit ang amo ‘na pirme nga sitwasyon kay kon halos kada bulan kadto ka diri ngayo ka pabor, I think that sounds different.”/PN
