Revised Guidelines in the Payment of Legal Fees and Other Collections in Small Claims Cases Pursuant to the Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts

April 5, 2022

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 79-2022

 

In an En Banc Resolution dated 1 March 2022, the Supreme Court approved A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC (Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts), which takes effect on 11 April 2022, that governs, among others, the Rule on Small Claims for civil actions before the Metropolitan Trial Courts (MeTCs), Municipal Trial Courts in Cities (MTCCs), Municipal Trial Courts (MTCs) and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts (MCTCs) where the claim does not exceed One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00), exclusive of interest and costs. Sec. 8, Rule IV (The Rule on Small Claims) of A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC provides that:

SEC. 8. Payment of Filing Fees. — The plaintiff shall pay the docket and other legal fees prescribed under Rule 141 of the Revised Rules of Court, unless allowed to litigate as an indigent. Exemption from the payment of filing fees shall be granted only by the Supreme Court.

However, if more than five (5) small claims are filed by one party within the calendar year, regardless of the judicial station, an additional filing fee of Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00) shall be paid for every claim filed after the fifth (5th) claim, and an additional One Hundred Pesos (P100.00) or a total of Six Hundred Pesos (P600.00) for every claim filed after the tenth (10th) claim, and another One Hundred Pesos (P100.00) or a total of Seven Hundred Pesos (P700.00) for every claim filed after the fifteenth (15th) claim, progressively and cumulatively.

If a case is dismissed without prejudice under Sec. 12 (f) of this Rule, and is re-filed within one (1) year from notice of dismissal the plaintiff shall pay a fixed amount of Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000.00) as filing fee, inclusive of the One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) fee for service of summons and processes.

If the plaintiff is engaged in the business of banking, lending and similar activities, the amount of filing and other legal fees shall be the same as those applicable to cases filed under the regular rules.

A claim filed with a motion to sue as indigent (Form 6-SCC) shall be referred to the Executive Judge for immediate action in case of multi-sala courts. If the motion is granted by the Executive Judge, the case shall be raffled off or assigned to the court designated to hear small claims cases. If the motion is denied, the plaintiff shall be given five (5) calendar days within which to pay the docket fees, otherwise, the case shall be dismissed without prejudice. In no case shall a party, even if declared an indigent, be exempt from the payment of the One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) fee for service of summons and processes.

Moreover, Section 3, Rule IV of A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC defines Business of Lending as "any lending activity pursued with regularity," while Business of Banking is "the business of lending funds obtained in the form of deposits."

In this regard, all Clerks of Court/Acting Clerks of Court (COC/ACOC) are hereby DIRECTED to adopt the following Revised Guidelines in the Payment of Legal Fees and Other Court Collections in Small Claims Cases:

1. For claim of money filed by plaintiffs duly registered as engaged in the business of banking, lending, and similar activities, the filing fees shall be ASSESSED based on Section 8 (a) of Rule 141, Revised Rules of Court, and no additional filing fee (frequent filer fee) shall be collected;

2. For claim of money arising from Contract of Loan and other credit accommodations, Contract of Lease, Contract of Services, or Contract of Sale of personal property, filed by plaintiffs not duly registered as engaged in the business of banking, lending, and similar activities, the filing fees shall be ASSESSED based on Section 8 (a) of Rule 141, Revised Rules of Court, and additional filing fee (frequent filer fee) under paragraph 2, Section 8 of The Rule on Small Claims, shall be COLLECTED, accordingly;

3. For claim of money arising from enforcement of barangay amicable settlement agreements and arbitration awards, filed by plaintiffs not duly registered as engaged in the business of banking, lending, and similar activities, the filing fees shall be ASSESSED based on Section 8 (d) of Rule 141, Revised Rules of Court, and additional filing fee (frequent filer fee) under paragraph 2, Section 8 of The Rule on Small Claims, shall be COLLECTED, accordingly. If plaintiff misrepresents that he/she/it is not engaged in the business of lending, banking, or similar activities when in fact he/she/it is so engaged, the Statement of Claim/s shall be dismissed with prejudice and plaintiff shall be meted the appropriate sanctions, including citation for direct contempt;

4. The said additional filing fee (frequent filer fee) shall be DEPOSITED and ALLOCATED equally to the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) and Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJF) accounts; and

5. If a case is dismissed without prejudice under Sec. 12 (f) of the Rule, and is re-filed within one (1) year from notice of dismissal, the plaintiff shall PAY a fixed amount of Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000.00), inclusive of the One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) Sheriff's Trust Fund for the service of summons and other court processes. The other One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) shall be ALLOCATED equally(i.e., Four Hundred Ninety-Two Pesos and Fifty Centavos (P492.50) each) to the JDF and SAJF accounts, net of Ten Pesos (P10.00) legal research fee and Five Pesos (P5.00) victim's compensation fee.

To illustrate, below are the sample computations comparing the fees to be paid by the plaintiffs under Numbers 1 to 3 above:

 

SAMPLE 1	Duly Registered as Engaged in the Business of Lending, etc.(No. 1)	Claims Arising from Contracts of Loan & Other Credit Accommodations, etc.(No. 2)	Claims Arising from Enforcement of Barangay Amicable Settlement & Arbitration Awards(No. 3)
Amount Involved	P900,000.00	P900,000.00	P900,000.00
Applicable Section	Sec. 8 (a), Rule 141	Sec. 8 (a), Rule 141	Sec. 8 (d), Rule 141
Filing Fees	P11,000.00	P11,000.00	P700.00
Summons Fee	200.00	200.00	200.00
LRF	110.00	110.00	10.00
VCF	5.00	5.00	5.00
STF	1,000.00	1,000.00	1,000.00
Amount to be Paid	P12,315.00	P12,315.00	P1,915.00
Frequent Filer Fees	None	On the 6th to 10th Php500.00 (so on...)	On the 6th to 10th Php500.00 (so on...)

 

SAMPLE 2	Duly Registered as Engaged in the Business of Lending, etc.(No. 1)	Claims Arising from Contracts of Loan & Other Credit Accommodations, etc.(No. 2)	Claims Arising from Enforcement of Barangay Amicable Settlement & Arbitration Awards(No. 3)
Amount Involved	P500,000.00	P500,000.00	P500,000.00
Applicable Section	Sec. 8 (a), Rule 141	Sec. 8 (a), Rule 141	Sec. 8 (d), Rule 141
Filing Fees	P6,000.00	P6,000.00	P700.00
Summons Fee	200.00	200.00	200.00
LRF	60.00	10.00	10.00
VCF	5.00	5.00	5.00
STF	1,000.00	1,000.00	1,000.00
Amount to be Paid	P7,265.00	P7,265.00	P1,915.00
Frequent Filer Fees	None	On the 6th to 10th Php500.00 (so on...)	On the 6th to 10th Php500.00 (so on...)

 

Collection of mediation fees in small claims cases was discontinued pursuant to the Resolution dated 9 July 2019 in A.M. No. 19-07-07-SC (Payment of Mediation Fees in Small Claims Cases) of the Court En Banc, effective 2 September 2019, under OCA Circular No. 149-2019 dated 20 August 2019.

For your guidance and strict compliance.

(SGD.) RAUL BAUTISTA VILLANUEVACourt Administrator