Meralco defers collection of reimposed bill deposit

MANILA — Meralco is postponing to next year the collection of the reimposed bill deposit of millions of its consumers.

This comes after a number of consumers have posted their bloated bills online when the bill deposit was lumped into the “other charges” part of the October 2026 billing.

According to some consumers, their bills nearly doubled or for some thousands of pesos were added due to “other charges” which turned out to be updated bill deposit.

Meralco said around 20,000 of its more than 8 million customers were asked to update their bill deposit after failing to diligently pay their bills on time.

But due to the clamor of these consumers, Meralco has decided to recall the order and implement this next year instead.

For those who have already paid their bill, Meralco said this will be credited to their next billing while for those who have not yet paid, the utility has already started reaching out.

A bill deposit is an amount collected from all consumers nationwide that covers or guarantees any unpaid electricity consumed after the due date.

Based on the magna carta, a consumer’s bill deposit is refunded once he/she has paid the bill on or before the due date for 2 years without any lapse.

Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairman Nino Juan said the commission will come up with rules that will allow a staggered payment of bill deposit.

Juan said it can be paid in three monthly installments to ease the financial burden on consumers.

But Meralco said it would ask the ERC to give consumers 6 months to pay the updated bill deposit.