West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has been ordered to give rebates to its customers in Las Pinas City who had experienced several days of water interruption last month.
Maynilad said has received the decision of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System on the matter.
The MWSS Board of Trustees has resolved to penalize Maynilad for its failure to comply with its service obligations under the concession agreement.
Maynilad, according to the MWSS Regulatory Office, particularly failed to provide 24/7 water service to its customers who were severely affected by the water service interruption last May in portions of Barangay Captain Albert Aguilar in Las Piñas.
Maynilad customers in the area were said to have been deprived of water service with a minimum pressure of seven pounds per square inch for a period of more than 15 days last month.
This adversely affected the public health or welfare in the area, said MWSS chief regulator Patrick Ty.
As a result, MWSS RO has recommended to the MWSS Board of Trustees to impose a financial penalty against the company.
The company was ordered to grant rebates to consumers that were severely affected in the area of P2,500 per water service connection or household. This will be applied to succeeding water bills or statements of account until expended.
Ty said in a text message that his office is still finalizing the exact figure because they also want to include households in bulk meter connections.
“The MWSS RO will facilitate the implementation of the rebate to all affected customers as soon as possible and would like to assure the public that is doing everything in its power to protect their interest,” Ty added.
Maynilad had to implement service interruption in some 290,000 households in the southern Metro Manila early last month after it found out an “unusual algae proliferation” in Laguna Lake. The proliferation of algae, according to the company, was due to the warmer temperature brought by El Niño.
To meet its service obligation in the area, Maynilad taps water in Laguna Lake.
Jennifer Rufo, Maynilad head for stakeholders communications office, said they believe there is no basis for the imposition of a penalty as the service interruption did not last for 15 days and only affected 12 percent of Maynilad’s customer base. (Madeleine Miraflor)