Customers of Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Company Inc. will experience a rollback in their monthly billing starting October until December, a top official of Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System's (MWSS) Regulatory Office (RO) said.
In a virtual briefing, MWSS Chief Regulator Patrick Ty said Manila Water and Maynilad will be implementing slight adjustments in their respective Foreign Currency Differential Adjustment (FCDA) in the fourth quarter of the year, which will both result in rollback.
Manila Water was allowed to implement an FCDA of 1.17 percent of its Average Basic Charge of P28.52 per cubic meter (/cu.m) or P0.33/cu.m. This is a downward adjustment of P0.15/cu.m compared to the firm’s third quarter FCDA.
Meanwhile, Maynilad will implement an FCDA of negative 0.26 percent of its 2019 Average Basic Charge of P36.24/cu.m or negative P0.09/cu.m.
Since gains and losses can arise from the payment of Maynilad and Manila Water's foreign currency-denominated debt, FCDA was created as a tariff mechanism that will allow concessionaires to recover or compensate for fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. FCDA is approved every quarter.
Ty said the impact of this adjustment to Manila Water customers consuming 10 cubic meters or less – except for lifeline customers who are exempted to the quarterly FCDA charges – will be a rollback of P0.78 in the monthly billing.
Those consuming 20 cubic meters per month and 30 cubic meters per month, on the other hand, will see a decline of P1.73 and P3.52 in their water bills, respectively.
Ty said this will slightly pull down the monthly bills of Maynilad customers consuming 10 cubic meters or less by P0.06, while those consuming 20 cubic meters per month and 30 cubic meters per month will pay lower by P0.24 and P0.50, respectively.
For the third quarter of this year, MWSS-RO recommended to retain the prevailing second quarter FCDA. Hence, Maynilad and Manila Water didn't implement any adjustment on their respective water rates from July to September.
Maynilad provides water and wastewater services to residents in most parts of Manila; northern and western parts of Quezon City; western parts of Makati; and the Cities of Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Valenzuela, Muntinlupa, Navotas, and Malabon in Metro Manila.
It also serves the municipalities of Meycauayan and Obando in the Province of Bulacan; and the Cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and Municipalities of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario in the Province of Cavite.
Meanwhile, Manila Water caters to the East Zone concession area covering the Cities of Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Pateros, San Juan, Taguig and Marikina.
It is also in charge of the southeastern parts of Quezon City, and Sta. Ana and San Andres in Manila. In the Province of Rizal, MWCI services the City of Antipolo and Municipalities of San Mateo, Rodriguez, Cainta, Taytay, Teresa, Angono, Baras, Binangonan, and Jala-jala.