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A Mindanao lawmaker wants to institutionalize refunds or adjustments in the monthly billing of consumers for unannounced and unscheduled interruptions not caused by natural calamities. For this purpose, Davao Oriental 2nd district Rep. Cheeno Almario filed House Bill (HB) No.8191. "We routinely receive our monthly billings regardless of the power outages, water supply interruptions, or internet connection problems. These utility companies don’t fail to charge us even if they don't deliver on the quality of service they promised. We hope to remedy that," Almario, a rookie solon, said. According to Almario, utility companies like water, electricity, telecommunications, and Internet service are responsible for providing quality and correct services in exchange for fixed charges. But he said there have been many instances wherein the frequency of service interruptions has reached a point of disrupting the lives of the people, businesses, and even the economy. "There is this sort of covenant between utility service providers and consumers that in exchange for the right payment is the right service," he said. If enacted, HB No.8191 will impose forfeitures on overhead charges from utilities in case of unintended or unannounced service interruptions. Almario said that his measure will hold companies accountable to the standards that they themselves guaranteed when they applied for franchises to operate. And since these franchises last up to 25 years at a time, Almario said that the losses people and the country incur add up. He said utility companies will have to pay back their customers through refund or bill adjustments if the cumulative service interruptions reach 24 hours or more, including subscribers of prepaid services.