Meralco waives ‘convenience fee’

By Myrna M. Velasco – May 21, 2020, 10:00 PM
from Manila Bulletin

Following a correspondence sent by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced that it will temporarily waive the ₱47 convenience fee (CF) being paid by consumers when they settle their bills through the company’s online payment app.

MERALCO logo

The company said it will instead shoulder the CF cost for the bills covering the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period of March 16-May 15 and will correspondingly refund the amount paid by its customers when they settled their electricity bills.

In a reply-letter to the energy chief, Meralco President and CEO Ray C. Espinosa explained that payments via the Meralco app “go through a payment gateway operated and maintained by PayMaya, which is linked to the visa and mastercard networks.”

PayMaya then charges Meralco the convenience fee of ₱47 per transaction, which is integrated in the payment that customers of the utility firm will have to settle as additional charge when they would opt to pay their bills via the app.

“No part of the convenience fee goes to Meralco,” Espinosa stressed, as he emphasized that “the charging of a convenience fee by a payment gateway provider like PayMaya is a common commercial practice in the online payment service industry.”