Revised Interim Guidelines for the Implementation of the Judiciary Electronic Payment Solution (JEPS) in All First Level Courts and Forty-Four (44) Pilot Second Level Courts

December 1, 2022

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 290-2022-A

 

In view of the successful pilot test of the Judiciary Electronic Payment Solution (JEPS) 1 in selected pilot First Level Courts nationwide, the JEPS shall be DEPLOYED to ALL First Level Courts and the following forty-four (44) pilot Second Level Courts effective 20 October 2022:

1) RTC, Manila City, Metro Manila

2) RTC, Quezon City, Metro Manila

3) RTC, Pasig City, Metro Manila

4) RTC, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila

5) RTC, Caloocan City, Metro Manila

6) RTC, Las Piñas City, Metro Manila

7) RTC, Parañaque City, Metro Manila

8) RTC, Pasay City, Metro Manila

9) RTC, Taguig City, Metro Manila

10) RTC, Malabon City, Metro Manila

11) RTC, Navotas City, Metro Manila

12) RTC, Valenzuela City, Metro Manila

13) RTC, Marikina City, Metro Manila

14) RTC, Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila

15) RTC, Makati City, Metro Manila

16) RTC, La Trinidad, Benguet

17) RTC, Batac City, Ilocos Norte

18) RTC, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

19) RTC, Balaoan, La Union

20) RTC, Ilagan City, Isabela

21) RTC, Angeles City, Pampanga

22) RTC, Gapan City, Nueva Ecija

23) RTC, Tagaytay City, Cavite

24) RTC, Trece Martires, Cavite

25) RTC, Batangas City, Batangas

26) RTC, Cabuyao City, Laguna

27) RTC, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan

28) RTC, Naga City, Camarines Sur

29) RTC, Sorsogon City, Sorsogon

30) RTC, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental

31) RTC, Cebu City, Cebu

32) RTC, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu

33) RTC, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

34) RTC, Ormoc City, Leyte

35) RTC, Tacloban City, Leyte

36) RTC, Dipolog City, Zamboanga Del Norte

37) RTC, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Del Sur

38) RTC, Cagayan De Oro City, Misamis Oriental

39) RTC, Butuan City, Agusan Del Norte

40) RTC, Davao City, Davao Del Sur

41) RTC, Kidapawan City, Cotabato

42) RTC, Iligan City, Lanao Del Norte

43) RTC, Sta. Rosa City, Laguna

44) RTC, Sta. Cruz, Laguna

All Clerks of Court/Acting Clerks of Court (COC/ACOC) of the above-mentioned courts are DIRECTED to adopt the following guidelines:

1. All COC/ACOC of the above-mentioned courts shall VERIFY the correctness of the bank account numbers and account names of the Fiduciary Fund (FF) and Sheriff's Trust Fund (STF) as provided in the Administrator Portal of the JEPS under their respective court stations. In case of discrepancies in the bank details/information provided in the JEPS, the COC/ACOC concerned shall immediately NOTIFY the Division Chief of the Fiscal Monitoring Division (FMD), Court Management Office (CMO), Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), through [email protected]. Meanwhile, those court stations whose bank accounts are not yet reflected in the Administrator Portal of the JEPS, shall likewise NOTIFY the Division Chief of the FMD, CMO, OCA, of the same, with the attached copy of the passbook or bank statements for its inclusion in the JEPS;

2. Effective 1 December 2022, the use of JEPS shall be COMPULSORY for transactions amounting to more than One Thousand Pesos (PHP1,000.00). It shall nonetheless remain as an optional, additional but preferred payment channel of legal fees and other court collections for collections amounting to One Thousand Pesos (PHP1,000.00) and below. The payment of legal fees and other court collections using the JEPS may be made through any remittance centers;

3. For posting of cash bonds, together with the payment of bond fees, and payment of court fines, the use of JEPS is optional, regardless of the amount. Direct bank payment is allowed, subject to the following guidelines:

(a) The COC/ACOC shall provide the litigant/party with the bank details. Thereupon, the amount of cash bond/s shall be DIRECTLY DEPOSITED to the Fiduciary Fund bank account of the concerned court, and the corresponding bond feel/s may beDIRECTLY DEPOSITED to the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF), Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJF) and Legal Research Fund (LRF) accounts, or through JEPS using the collection type "Payment of Bond Fee for Cash Bail Bond or Supersedeas Bond (in Check) Directly Deposited to FF Bank Account — Sec. 21 (c);"

(b) For court fines, the same shall be DIRECTLY DEPOSITED to their appropriate accounts (i.e., Dangerous Drugs Board Fund [DDBF] for drugs cases, General Fund [GF] for non-drugs cases and Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund [SAJF] for other fines). Posting of cash bonds, together with the payment of bond fees, and payment of court fines may be done also through any remittance center;

(c) If during holidays, on days with no court transactions, or when a litigant/party opts to use JEPS, any of these fund transfer options may be availed of:

(c.1) The UB Online channel may be used with no additional charges, regardless of the amount;

(c.2) For real-time result of transactions involving more than PHP50,000.00 posting of cash bonds, together with the payment of bond fees, and payment of court fines, may be done through bank transfer via the generated QR Code in the JEPS' Confirmation Payment Page or through any remittance center using the following details:

 

Receiving Bank:	Union Bank of the Philippines
Account Name:	PHILIPPINE JUDICIARY
Reference Number:	(19-digit number that will vary)

 

The same may be used for bank transfers requiring the inputting of the above-stated details.

(c.3) Instapay may be used if the total amount to be deposited and paid to the court is fifty thousand pesos (PHP50,000.00) or less;

(c.4) PCHC or PESONet channel may be used but the posting of payment made will take one to two days; and

(d) The COC/ACOC shall VERIFY the duly validated deposit slip/s or proof/s of transfer or remittance provided by the litigant/party/requestor, and shall thereafter ISSUE manual OR or eCourt OR, as the case may be;

4. Direct bank payment is allowed for transactions using check regardless of the amount, or for those involving more than fifty thousand pesos (PHP50,000.00) for the payment of legal fees and other court collections, subject to the following guidelines:

(a) For Government Agencies, Instrumentalities, Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations, and Local Government Units that are using their company/government check in the payment of legal fees and other court collections, payment or deposit may be made to any Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) branch;

(b) Private companies or individuals paying legal fees and other court collections using their company/personal check regardless of the amount, or for those transactions involving more than fifty thousand pesos (PHP50,000.00), shall be REFERRED to the LBP branch where the concerned court is maintaining their local accounts to process their transactions. The concerned court shall PROVIDE the bank details. The issuance of ORs for direct bank payments using check shall be withheld until the payment is credited to the account of the court. Accountable officers are PROHIBITED to receive transactions for more than one thousand pesos (PHP1,000.00);

5. For courts under the Direct Bank Payment option, the JEPS shall remain as an additional (and preferred) payment channel of legal fees and other court collections;

6. The manner of payment provided in OCA Circular No. 164-2020 dated 7 October 2020 (i.e., online/bank transfer and interbranch payment) and the use of Fortune Payment (FP) mobile app for Small Claims cases shall NO LONGER be USED by the above-mentioned courts relative to the payment of legal fees and other court collections. The FP shall, however, remain as one of the payment options/channels in the JEPS;

7. For court stations under the eCourt Case Management System, the eCourt assessment and payment process shall be DISREGARDEDin favor of JEPS in the payment of legal fees and other court collections. The concerned COC/ACOC shall proceed with the docketing of the case;

8. After payment, the litigant/party/requestor shall PROVIDE the assessment number of the transaction made through the JEPS, together with a PDF file copy of the pleadings, to the COC/ACOC concerned. The COC/ACOC concerned shall FURNISH the FMD, CMO, OCA with the copy of the said PDF file of the pleadings through [email protected], with the filename format "Region, Station Code, JEPS OR No." (ex. R11, MTCC_DAV, OR No. 1234), and under the subject — "Pleadings for JEPS." The sending of the PDF file copy of the pleadings may be done daily, weekly or bi-monthly;

9. The concerned COC/ACOC shall VERIFY the assessment number using the Administrator Portal of the JEPS, and CONFIRM whether the said payment is tagged as "PAID" in the Administrator Portal of the JEPS. Thereafter, the concerned COC/ACOC shall print at least three (3) copies of the computer-generated OR;

10. The concerned COC/ACOC shall VERIFY that the amount paid by the litigant/party/requestor is correct. If the payment is insufficient, the party shall be required to make an additional payment. In the meantime, collection of deficient legal fees and other collections shall be manually done using the OR provided by the Court or agency concerned, as the case may be. The case shall be docketed only after the petition/pleadings are filed and the assessed legal fees are paid in full, except in cases for which the rules allow staggered payment;

11. Upon confirmation that the payment has been tagged as "PAID," the concerned COC/ACOC shall forthwith SIGN the "Payment Verified and Confirmed by:" portion of the computer-generated OR and may proceed to docket the case, act on the application/motion/request, or render the service needed. The three (3) 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. The JEPS OR and the signature may be photocopied or carbon-reproduced, provided that the same shall be clear and readable;

12. 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 indeed overpayment or erroneous payment of legal fees. Once verified and confirmed, the concerned COC/ACOC shall TRANSMIT the request for refund and the necessary supporting documents to the Chief of the Financial Management Office (FMO), OCA,through [email protected], for appropriate action. The overpayment should be included in the Cash Receipt Register (CRR) as part of the collection;

13. For erroneous payments made before a different court, the litigant/party/requestor shall be REQUIRED to pay the legal fees and other court collections to the proper court. The same shall be done before the case can be docketed, the application/motion/request acted upon, or the service needed rendered;

14. The issuance of a court order for the withdrawal of the stenographer's two-third portion in the certified copies of transcript of stenographic notes fees that was paid through JEPS and remitted to the FF account of the concerned court, may be DISPENSED with upon the approval of the concerned Executive Judge on the disbursement voucher;

15. The COC/ACOC shall ASSIST the litigant/party/requestor who is not familiar with the JEPS and shall EXPLAIN the different payment options available in JEPS;

16. The concerned COC/ACOC shall, on a daily basis, COMPARE the Remittance Report and Collections Report (of the Union Bank of the Philippines [UBP]) with the collections tagged as "Paid" in the Administrator Portal of the JEPS;

17. In case of discrepancy between the collections listed in the Administrator Portal of the JEPS and the remittance report and collections 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

18. The COC/ACOC concerned shall also INDICATE the discrepancy in their monthly report and shall FURNISH the FMD, CMO, OCA, with the electronic copy of the said report through [email protected];

19. All financial transactions of each fund (JEPS, court-authorized direct bank payments, and over-the-counter transactions) shall be REFLECTED in the CRR, and shall be submitted to the Accounting Division, FMO, OCA, and to the government office/agency concerned, together with the required supporting attachments. Financial reports required to be submitted to the Accounting Division, FMO, OCA, shall still be SUBMITTED through private couriers as provided for in OCA Circular No. 235-2018 dated 13 November 2018;

20. The COC/ACOC concerned may DESIGNATE the cashier, cash clerk, or any bonded personnel of the court for the above-discussed tasks under the direct supervision of the concerned COC/ACOC, as approved by the concerned EJ or PJ, as the case may be; and

21. The COC/ACOC shall POST in the payment windows or in a bulletin board the instructions or infographics on how to electronically pay using the JEPS in two languages, namely: 1) English, and 2) the local dialect of the place where the court is situated.

For uniformity in the assessment of legal fees and other court collections, ALL COC/ACOC of the First and Second Level Courts (including those non-pilot Second Level Courts), shall USE the JEPS Microsite in the assessment of legal fees and other court collections which may be accessed through:

https://epayment.judiciary.gov.ph

Meanwhile, all Presiding Judges and COC/ACOC of the courts which have not opened the required bank accounts for the Fiduciary Fund and Sheriff's Trust Fund are hereby DIRECTED to SHOW CAUSE why they should not be administratively charged for failure to comply with OCA Circular No. 141-2021 dated 15 November 2021.

The remittance/deposit of money exhibits and net interests earned shall still be done by the COC/ACOC. For courts whose depository banks are outside the municipality/city where they are stationed, the remittances of collections to their respective accounts through any remittance centers by the COC/ACOC or any authorized personnel shall be ALLOWED and the costs incurred in remitting court collections can be reimbursed by the Finance Division, FMO, OCA, in consonance with OCA Circular No. 141-2021 dated 15 November 2021.

This Circular amends OCA Circular No. 290-2022 dated 20 October 2022.

For strict compliance.

(SGD.) RAUL B. VILLANUEVACourt Administrator

Footnotes

1. The purpose of the JEPS is to make the processes for assessment and payment of legal fees and other court collections easier, more accessible, and 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 electronically through online banking and digital wallets.