Interim Guidelines for the Implementation of the Judiciary Electronic Payment Solution (JEPS) to the Pilot Courts of the First Level Courts

April 5, 2022

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 44A-2022

 

In view of the approval by the Supreme Court of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Supreme Court of the Philippines and the Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) regarding the Judiciary Electronic Payment Solution (JEPS) for the courts, the following first level courts are hereby DIRECTED to pilot test the same:

1. MeTC, Quezon City, Metro Manila

2. MeTC, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila

3. MeTC, San Juan City, Metro Manila

4. MTCC, Malolos City, Bulacan

5. MTCC, Baguio City, Benguet

6. MTCC, Angeles City, Pampanga

7. MTCC, Cabuyao City, Laguna

8. MTCC, Naga City, Camarines Sur

9. MTCC, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

10. MTCC, Ilagan City, Isabela

11. MTCC, Puerto Prinsesa City, Palawan

12. MTCC, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

13. MTCC, Lapu-lapu City, Cebu

14. MTCC, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

15. MTCC, Tacloban City, Leyte

16. MTCC, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur

17. MTCC, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriential

18. MTCC, Cotabato City, Maguindanao

19. MTCC, Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte

20. MTCC, Davao City, Davao del Sur

In this regard, all Clerks of Court/Acting Clerks of Court (COC/ACOC) of the above-mentioned pilot courts are DIRECTED to adopt the following guidelines:

1. The JEPS shall be an additional payment channel of legal fees and other court collections, in addition to the Fortune Pay Online Portal, until the integration of the latter with the JEPS; CAIHTE

2. The manner of payment provided in OCA Circular No. 164-2020 dated 7 October 2020, i.e., online/bank transfer and interbranch payment, shall NO LONGER be USED by the above-mentioned courts relative to the payment of legal fees and other collections;

3. For court stations under eCourt Case Management System, the assessment and payment process provided by the eCourt system shall be DISREGARDED if the party opted to use the JEPS in the payment of legal fees and other court collections. The concerned COC/ACOC shall proceed to the docketing of the case;

4. After payment, the litigant/party/requestor shall SUBMIT three copies of computer-generated Official Receipt (OR) to the concerned COC/ACOC;

5. The concerned COC/ACOC shall VERIFY the computer-generated OR from the Administrator Site of the JEPS, and CONFIRM that the said payment is posted in the list of collections;

6. Upon verification and confirmation of payment, the concerned COC/ACOC shall SIGN the "Payment Verified and Confirmed by:" portion of the computer-generated OR. The three copies of the OR shall be distributed as follows: (1) the first copy shall go to the litigant/party/requestor, (2) the second copy shall serve as an attachment to the financial report to be submitted by the COC/ACOC to the Accounting Division, Financial Management Office (FMO), OCA, and (3) the third copy shall serve as the court file copy for audit purposes;

7. If for any justifiable reason, the litigant/party/requestor fails to provide the printed computer-generated OR, the concerned COC/ACOC is REQUIRED to print the sets of the OR from the system upon presentation of the assessment number or the OR number generated by the system, and thereafter SIGN the "Payment Verified and Confirmed by:" portion of the computer-generated OR. The signature on the computer-generated OR can be a reproduction of the original;

8. The concerned COC/ACOC shall CHECK the amount paid by the litigant/party/requestor if correct. If the payment is insufficient, the party shall be required to make additional payment. The case shall be docketed only once the petition/pleadings are filed and the full payment of legal fees and other court collections are verified and confirmed by the concerned COC/ACOC;

9. In case of overpayment or erroneous payment of legal fees and other collections, the litigant/party/requestor shall request for a refund with the concerned COC/ACOC. The concerned COC/ACOC shall VERIFY and CONFIRM whether there was an overpayment or erroneous payment of legal fees, and once verified and confirmed, shall TRANSMIT the request to the Financial Management Office (FMO), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), for refund, with the necessary supporting documents;

10. In case of erroneous court payment, the litigant/party/requestor shall be REQUIRED to pay the legal fees and other court collections to the proper court, subject to refund of the erroneous payment made;

11. The COC/ACOC shall ASSIST the litigant/party/requestor who is incapable of accessing the JEPS. However, payment of the assessed amount shall still be done through the payment channels of the JEPS, which the COC/ACOC shall explain to the litigant/party/requestor;

12. The concerned COC/ACOC shall, on a daily basis, COMPARE the electronic payments received by the court with the JEPS system-generated report;

13. In case of discrepancy between the collections in the administrator portal of the JEPS and the proof of remittance report provided by the UBP, the concerned COC/ACOC shall immediately INPUT the details of the discrepancy in the form provided below:

https://forms.office.com/r/FTxduxWrPc

14. The concerned COC/ACOC shall also DISCLOSE the above discrepancy in the monthly report and shall furnish the Fiscal Monitoring Division, Court Management Office, OCA, the electronic copy of the said report through [email protected];

15. Considering that over-the-counter transactions are not yet incorporated in the current version of the JEPS, two monthly financial reports shall be submitted to the Accounting Division, FMO, OCA, and to the government office/agency concerned, that is, the first financial report is the system-generated report which will consist of data relative to payments made thru the UBP system, while the second report is the manually prepared Cash Receipt Register comprising of collections made through over-the-counter or those transactions made outside the UBP system. Both reports shall be submitted altogether, attaching the required supporting documents for each report;

16. The concerned COC/ACOC may DESIGNATE the cashier, cash clerk, or any bonded personnel of the court for the above tasks under the direct supervision of the concerned COC/ACOC; and

17. To properly inform the public, the COC/ACOC shall POST in the payment windows or bulletin boards the instructions on how to pay electronically using the JEPS in two languages, namely: 1) English; and 2) the local dialect of the place where the court is situated.

Please be informed that the purpose of the JEPS is to make the assessment and payment of legal fees and other collections of the Judiciary more convenient by providing the litigants, their counsels/representatives and persons requesting for clearances, certifications, and other services from the courts, the option to pay court fees online through major banks and electronic wallets as conduit. Currently, the JEPS is limited to UBP accounts (no convenience fee/bank service charge), bank transfers through instaPay and PESONet (both with convenience fee/bank service charge). DETACa

This Circular amends OCA Circular No. 44-2022.

For strict compliance.

(SGD.) RAUL BAUTISTA VILLANUEVACourt Administrator