Private water concessionaires were directed to give consumers two to three more months to settle their current bills to ease the burden of current lockdown being implemented in connection with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
President Dutete, in his 12th Bayanihan Report to Congress on Monday said lifeline consumers or those who consume 10 cubic meters (cu.m.) of water or less a month can settle their statements of account (SOAs) in staggered amounts until Sept. 1, 2020 while non-lifeline consumers or those who used more than 10 cu.m. of water per month can pay their dues, also in staggered basis, until Aug. 1, 2020.
A typical household consumes about 20 cu.m. of water.
The President said the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has also directed water concessionaires to reflect the actual water consumption of consumers during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified quarantine period periods.
MWSS also asked the water concessionaires to “verify consumers’ consumption patterns, check irregularities and automatically withhold SOAs with observed significant deviation for further investigation and necessary adjustments”.
Since the implementation of the quarantine, the private concessionaires had decided to use the “average” monthly consumption as the basis of their customers’ billings for the months of March, April and May after they failed to conduct meter readings during the lockdown.
Using that basis means establishments which have closed down during the period still have to pay a certain amount even if they did not consume any water. – Jocelyn Montemayor