Some Manila Water consumers will get a refund that will come from the penalties imposed on the company over a supply shortage that brought misery to seven-million consumers in the capital, regulators said Wednesday.
The penalties include a P534-million fine and a P600-million fund to develop a new water source. This will be on top of a “self-imposed” P500-million plan to provide financial relief to customers, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System said earlier.
But a consumer advocacy group said Thursday the P534-million refund was not enough for Manila Water’s seven-million consumers who were affected by the recent water service interruptions.
Water for the People Network convener Rosario Bella Guzman said the amount would only amount to P60 to P75 when distributed among the consumers.
“If that is divided among the seven-million customers of Manila Water, we will only have P60 to P75 each,” Guzman told Super Radyo dzBB.
The P534-million fine will be deducted from the June bill of the consumers hit by the outage, while their May bill would be slashed with the P500 million self-imposed relief plan, said MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco.
Each consumer would get around P2,000 in refunds for June, he said.
Senator Grace Poe said the MWSS should bare how the penalties were computed.
“We don’t want the penalties against Manila Water would, later on, be shouldered by consumers especially once they search for a new water source,” Poe said.
Manila Water will abide by the MWSS decision and will hold itself accountable for its “inability to provide our consumers with the usual uninterrupted water service,” said its president and CEO, Ferdinand dela Cruz.
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