Education And Protection Of End-users

Section 1. Guiding Principle

As per Section 76, the public shall be educated on the Restructuring of the electric power industry and Privatization of NAPOCOR.

Section 2. Consumer Education

The DOE shall undertake continuing information, education and communication program for consumers. This is to be in coordination with the:

• ERC
• NAPOCOR
• NEA
• DepEd
• DTI
• Office of the Press Secretary (OPS)
• Philippine Information Agency (PIA)
• the academe
• NGOs
• consumer groups or associations

(a) Industry Restructuring and NAPOCOR Privatization; (b) Implementation of Retail Competition and Open Access and their impact on End-users and on the proper use of electric power. It shall include the existence of competitive electricity suppliers, choice of competitive electricity services, regulated transmission and distribution services, systems reliability, aggregation, market, itemized billing, Stranded Cost, uniform disclosure requirements, low income bill payment, energy conservation and safety measures, among other topics; and (c) Implementation of these Rules.

Section 3. Consumer Protection

The ERC shall ensure consumer choice and promote consumer interests. It shall issue the appropriate guidelines and mechanisms to handle the following: (a) Speedy resolution of consumer complaints; (b) Creation of a permanent consumer complaint desk at ERC and in all electric utilities and other providers of electric power to oversee the promotion of consumer interests; and Page 97 of 100(c) Dissemination of rate-related resolutions, including posting in the ERC website and the publication of all notices of hearings to be conducted by the ERC for the purpose of fixing rates or fees at least twice for two (2) successive weeks in two (2) newspapers of nationwide circulation.

RULE 35. FINES AND PENALTIES

As per EPIRA, the fines and penalties are:

^a The fines and penalties that shall be imposed by the ERC for any violation of or non-compliance with the Act or these Rules shall range from a minimum of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) to a maximum of Fifty Million Pesos (P50,000,000.00). (b) Any Person who is found guilty of any of the prohibited acts pursuant to Section 45 shall suffer the penalty of prision mayor and a fine ranging from Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) to Ten Million Pesos (P10,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court. (c) The members of the Board of Directors of the juridical companies participating in or covered in the Generation Companies, the DUs, the TRANSCO or its Buyer or Concessionaire or Supplier who violate the provisions may be fined by an amount not exceeding double the amount of damages caused by the offender or by imprisonment from one (1) year or two (2) years or both at the discretion of the court. This Rule shall apply to the members of the Board who knowingly or by neglect allows the commission or omission under the law. (d) If the offender is a government official or employee, he shall, in addition, be dismissed from the government service with prejudice to reinstatement and with perpetual or temporary disqualification from holding any elective or appointive office. (e) If the offender is an alien, he may, in addition to the penalties prescribed, be deported without further proceedings after service of sentence. (f) Any case which involves question of fact shall be appealable to the Court of Appeals and those which involve question of law shall be directly appealable to the Supreme Court. (g) The administrative sanction that may be imposed by the ERC shall be without prejudice to the filing of a criminal action, if warranted. (h) To ensure compliance with the Act, the penalty of prision correccional or a fine ranging from Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00) to Five Million Pesos (P5,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed on any Person, including, but not limited to, the president, member of the board, chief executive officer or chief operating officer of the corporation, partnership, or any other entity involved, found Page 98 of 100guilty of violating or refusing to comply with any provision or these Rules, other than those provided herein. [Sec. 46 Par. 8] (i) Any party to an administrative proceeding may, at any time, make an offer to the ERC, conditionally or otherwise, for a consented decree, voluntary compliance or desistance and other settlement of the case. The offer and any or all of the ultimate facts upon which the offer is based shall be considered for settlement purposes only and shall not be used as evidence against any party for any other purpose and shall not constitute an admission by the party making the offer of any violation of the laws, rules, regulations, orders and resolutions of the ERC, nor as a waiver to file any warranted criminal actions. (j) In addition, Congress may, upon recommendation of the DOE and/or ERC, revoke such franchise or privilege granted to the party who violated the provisions .