SC launches ePayment for small claims

The Supreme Court on Friday launched the Judiciary ePayment for Small Claims, the online payment of legal fees for small claims cases.

In a statement, the SC said the option of cashless payment for litigants in small claims cases will be pilot-tested in close to a thousand first-level courts nationwide.

The inauguration of the cashless payment came after the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the SC and Easypay Global EMI Corp., the owner of Fortune Pay which is a mobile wallet app that enables users to enjoy an easy, fast, and secure way of digital payment.

The SC stressed that all metropolitan trial courts, municipal trial courts in cities, municipal trial courts, and municipal circuit trial courts can now conveniently accept payments for small claims through the Fortune Pay Mobile Application.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez and EGEC President Mr. Paul Ian Chan were the principal signatories to the MOA. Signing as witnesses were Deputy Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva and EGEC Marketing Director El Joseph Paculanang.

The MOA was signed simultaneously in two locations—in the Division Hearing Room of the Supreme Court in Padre Faura, Manila, and in the Rizal Park Hotel, Ermita, Manila—with each party possessing a copy of the MOA previously signed by the other party.

The ePayment services of Fortune Pay is the newest addition to the growing roster of collection channels that will be later on integrated with the Judiciary ePayment Solution currently under development by the Court.

On March 15, 2021, the SC signed a MOA with Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) for UnionBank to develop an ePayment solution for the Judiciary. 

“The Judiciary ePayment Solution, open to all banks and their account holders, is an application designed to provide the Supreme Court and all the courts in the country the option to receive fees and payments digitally from litigants, their counsels, and representatives on a safe, secure, real-time, and 24/7 basis from anywhere at their convenience,” the statement said.

It involves an automated tool that will allow authorized judiciary personnel to process and manage payment related activities swiftly and efficiently. It is aimed at streamlining the processes of assessment and payment of court fees, increasing accessibility of the public to judicial services, increasing transparency and accountability, and providing the Supreme Court with efficient accounting and auditing mechanisms.