Rep. Francisco S. Dela Cruz’s House Bill 16-115 now awaits action at the Senate which is scheduled to hold a session this Friday.
The House passed the measure on Monday.
Dela Cruz, Covenant-Saipan, said banks charge CUC customers up to $1 per transaction when they pay their CUC bills at their establishments.
He said this practice is inconvenient and costly for some customers.
CUC’s main office in Dandan, he added, is usually “inundated with a long line of irate and frustrated customers contesting their bills or trying to make payment.”
“For other CUC customers, the travel distance to the CUC main office is costly in light of the continuing spike in the fuel price. The Legislature finds that it would be more convenient and efficient for many CUC customers to pay their CUC bill online at the official CUC Web site,” H.B. 16-115 stated.
“Making online payments for household bills is common and practical in today’s environment and it would save CUC customer service expenses and time,” it added.
Dela Cruz said customers should also be spared copying charges if they want copies of regulations or new policies about utilities.
He said a CUC Web site will address this issue.
“CUC should publish its regulations and public notices, especially those regarding utility rates and outages, on the CUC internet Web site,” the lawmaker said.
CUC must adopt regulations to implement these changes within 180 days if the bill is enacted into law.
