SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE – PREPAID CUSTOMERS

Your assistance in completing this form is greatly appreciated. Your honest feedback will help me
understand the Prepaid Retail Electricity Service (PRES) of Meralco, as part of my research study. Rest
assured that all details will be used for academic purposes only.
Part I. Prepaid Customer Profile
1. How long have you been using a pre-paid meter?
Less than a year 1-2 years 3-4 years 5 years and more
2. Household monthly income
Less than 5,000 5,001 - 10,000 10,001 - 15,000 15,001 - 20,000
Above 20,000
3. Number of persons in the household
Less than 3 3-4 5-6 7-8 Above 9
4. Number of household appliances
Airconditioning unit ________ Refrigerator ________
Flat iron ________ Washing machine ________
Television set ________ Electric fan ________
5. Frequency of loading
Every week Twice a month Once a month Others: please specify____
6. Amount loaded per loading transaction
P100-199 P200-299 P300-399 P400-499
Above P500 Others. Please specify ________
7. How many days will the load per transaction lasts?
1-3 days 4-6 days up to 14 days up to 21 days
1 month Others. Please specify ________
8. Have your meter run out of credit and so been disconnected from power supply?
Yes No
9. If your answer to question is Yes, how often does this occur, say in a month?
Most often Often (say twice in a month) Rarely
10. How long before you ‘re-load’ after running out of credit?
Part II. We’d like to know your view concerning the benefits of prepaid metering. On a scale of 1 (lowest) to 7
(highest), kindly rate the following items.
[7] Strongly Agree [6] Moderately Agree [5] Slightly Agree [4] Neutral [3] Slightly Disagree [2] Moderately Disagree [1] Strongly Disagree
On monetary benefits: 7 5
a. I am in control of how much and how often I 6 4 3 2 1
re-load or ‘top up’,
b. I am able to track and control my electricity
expenses, 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

c. I always have an idea of how much remaining

balance I have on my prepaid metering, 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
d. My prepayment meter has ‘Emergency Credit’
which offers a set of amount of extra credit in 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
case I run out of pre-paid credit,
d. My prepayment meter has ‘Friendly Credit’ or
‘no disconnect’ mode that operates at certain 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
hours of day/night when it is considered most
inconvenient times to be without electricity,
e. Prepayment electricity offers lower rate,
7 6 5 4 3 2 1

f. Balance update is easily available either online

or by phone, 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

On non-monetary benefits:
a. Topping up at vending machines/stores is 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
easy and convenient,
b. Restoring electricity after prepayment runs
out of credit is easy, 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

c. I was able to adjust my habits in order to

lower electricity consumption, 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Disadvantages:
a. I am not sure how durable the prepaid meters 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
are,
b. I am in doubt as to the accuracy of the prepaid
meter I am using 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
c. I experience more blackout since I shifted to
prepaid billing system 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Right away after 1day after 2 days many days Others ______________