Interim Guidelines on the Pilot Test of Electronic Payment (E-Payment) of Legal Fees in Small Claims Cases

July 23, 2021

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 102-2021

 

Pursuant to the 6 July 2021 Resolution of the Court en banc in A.M. No. 21-03-13-SC which APPROVED the draft Memorandum of Agreement between the Court and Easypay Global EMI Corporation, electronic payment (e-Payment) through the Fortune Pay mobile application is now being pilot tested as an option for the payment of legal fees in Small Claims Cases, subject to the following procedures:

1. The paying party (payor) shall first secure an Assessment Form, either personally or through electronic mail (email), from the Office of the Clerk of Court having jurisdiction of the small claim case intended to be filed;

2. The Assessment Form shall be SEQUENTIALLY NUMBERED and must CLEARLY SPECIFY the amounts to be paid to the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF), Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJF), Legal Research Fund (LRF), Victims Compensation Fund (VCF), and Sheriff's Trust Fund (STF);

3. The same Assessment Form shall also be UTILIZED for court stations already implementing the Direct Bank payment option for legal fees;

4. Using the Fortune Pay mobile application, the payor can either manually select the court station or scan the corresponding QR Code required to be POSTED in the payment windows or bulletin boards of the court;

5. The payor will then INPUT the payment details which include the litigant's name, the amounts to be paid for each of the aforementioned five (5) funds, and the Assessment Form number;

6. After reviewing the transaction details, the payor must CONFIRM the validity of the information by tapping the "PROCEED" button which will prompt the input of a Transaction Pin sent via text message;

7. Once the transaction is successful, the payor shall provide a screenshot of the Transaction ID to the Clerk of Court (COC) or Acting Clerk of Court (ACOC) for verification of the payment through the Fortune Pay Online Portal (FPOP) Dashboard, and upon confirmation shall ISSUE the corresponding Official Receipts (ORs) for the aforementioned five (5) funds;

8. The concerned COC/ACOC shall thoroughly EXAMINE the proof of payment presented by the payor before docketing the case;

9. In case of underpayment of legal fees, the concerned COC/ACOC shall REQUIRE the payor to correct the deficiency by making the corresponding additional payment, before docketing the case;

10. In case of overpayment or erroneous payment of legal fees, the party shall REQUEST for its refund through the COC/ACOC concerned, and the latter shall transmit the request to the Chief of Office, Financial Management Office (FMO), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), attaching the required supporting documents (certified copy of the ORs, certified copy of the proof of deposit, and certified copy of the monthly financial report of the fund where the amount was deposited);

11. In case of erroneous payment to another court station, the court which received the payment shall ISSUE the OR, and mark it with "ERRONEOUS PAYMENT" for refund purposes. However, for purposes of filing the case, the payor shall still be required to pay the assessed amount in the proper court station;

12. The FPOP shall generate a "List of Collections and Deposits" for each of the aforementioned funds which shall serve as the proof of deposits The said "List of Collections and Deposits" shall provide for the name of the payor, court where the case is to be filed, and the amounts paid/deposited to the corresponding five (5) fund accounts;

13. All payments/deposits made through the Fortune Pay mobile application shall be reported and reflected in the monthly financial reports that are required to be submitted to the Accounting Division, FMO, OCA. The duplicate copies of the ORs issued and the proof of payment/deposit shall be attached to the report. The proof of payment/deposit shall be stamped "DEPOSIT VERIFIED" by the concerned COC/ACOC;

14. A copy of the proof of payment shall be retained and properly filed with the court concerned for financial audit purposes;

15. For proper guidance, all COCs/ACOCs are DIRECTED to POST printed instructions on how to avail of the option for e-payment through Fortune Pay, in their payment windows or bulletin boards, in English and in the local dialect of the place where the court is situated;

16. The COC/ACOC SHALL ACCOMPLISH the online Registration Form that will be provided in the Microsoft Teams groups created by the Fiscal Monitoring Division, Court Management Office, OCA, to confirm the STF local accounts that were given by each court, and thereafter UPLOAD to the same registration form the image or screenshot of the copy of the passbook or bank statement showing the given bank account number of the concerned court for validation.

For the information, guidance, and strict compliance of all concerned.

(SGD.) JOSE MIDAS P. MARQUEZCourt Administrator