Senator Nancy Binay urged Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to provide its consumers with a clear and easy to understand explanation on how their electric bills were computed during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy Monday, Binay pointed out how the lack of information on Meralco bills caused confusion in many of its consumers.

“How would we know if overestimate or underestimate yung nangyari when it is not stated on the bill?” Binay said.

“Tingin ko doon tayo magkakaproblema dahil as a consumer, hindi kami nakakasiguro kung anong buwan ba kayo nag-overestimate o nag-underestimate sa computation ng bill,” she added.

Binay also urged Meralco to come up with a separate bill that is more transparent especially now that Meralco says it already has the actual meter readings of their consumers.

“While we thank Meralco for giving a refund of the amount it may have overcharged, we are still asking for more transparency on our electric bills,” Binay said.

“Gusto lang natin klaro at makikita agad ng consumers kung magkano ba talaga ang overestimate or underestimate sa kanila ng Meralco noong ECQ,” she added.

Meralco has explained that it billed its customers based on average consumption from December to February because meter reading could not be done in March and April with the entire Luzon placed under ECQ.

According to Meralco, it started doing actual meter readings for its business customers on April while actual meter readings for residential customers were started beginning of May.