An electric cooperative in Isabela has found a convenient, novel way for its customers to pay their bills quickly: the drive-through.
The Isabela I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Iselco-I) inaugurated the country’s first drive-through bill payment facility on May 9, allowing customers to settle their accounts without leaving the comfort of their cars––a convenience that National Electrification Administration (NEA) Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong hopes can be adopted in other parts of the country to make the payment of electricity bills easier and hassle-free for their member-consumers.
“Parang kayo pa lang yata ang electric cooperative na merong drive-thru na may substation,” Masongsong remarked during the inauguration of Iselco-I’s second drive-thru collection office in San Fermin, Cauayan City. Iselco-I opened its first drive-thru collection office along the National Highway of Barangay Batal, Santiago City in 2015. The facility, labeled as the first of its kind in the country, has been patronized by hundreds of its member-consumers with an average daily collection of more or less 500,000 pesos.
The setting up of a drive-thru collection office was conceptualized by General Manager Virgilio Montano as part of their commitment to provide the best possible service to their member-consumers.
Montano said their customers no longer have to wait in long lines to pay for their power bills at the office, especially during the peak days of collection.
With the drive-thru collection office, it takes only “about a minute” for a consumer to settle his account. The facility also allows busy commuters to avoid the hassle of finding a parking space.
“‘Yung mga consumer namin puwede silang dumaan para hindi na sila pupunta sa office na kung minsan walang maparadahan,” Montano explained in a recent interview. “Iaabot mo na lang ang pambayad mo, hindi ka na bababa sa kotse mo.”
Because of the positive reception, Iselco-I also plans to construct another drive-thru facility with a substation in the Municipality of Echague within the year. ###