Meralco ready to implement senior citizen discount

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said on Firday it is ready to implement the discounted rate for senior citizens.

In a statement, Meralco expressed readiness to comply with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) rules on the grant of electricity bill discounts under Republic Act (RA) 9994 or the (Expanded Senior Citizen Act of 2010.

RA 9994 grants a five percent discount to qualified senior citizens whose electricity consumption do not exceed 100 kilowatthours (kwh). 

Meralco said the discount would be on top of the existing lifeline rates being implemented by the company.

It explained that since its residential customers using up to 100 kwh are already receiving a lifeline discount ranging from 20 to 100 percent, the senior citizen discount of five percent will be applied on the remaining bill after the lifeline discount is applied, further reducing the bill of qualified senior citizens.

RA 9994 further states that the electric service should have been registered under the name of the senior citizen for at least one year to be able to apply for the discount.

This law also provides a 50 percent discount to senior citizen institutions that have been in operation for at least six months and accredited by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“We worked closely with the ERC, DSWD, and other electricity distributors these past few months to ensure that the benefits of RA 9994 will reach deserving electricity consumers,” Meralco stated.

The ERC released the rules implementing the discounts to qualified senior citizen end-users on its website Jan. 5, and will take effect 15 days after publication in newspapers of general circulation.