The extended Lifeline Rates Program of the government, which provides a financial cushion to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps and other marginalized households, has officially rolled out.

However, Luningning G. Baltazar, Director of the Department of Energy's Electric Power Industry Management Bureau, said "lifeliners" without individual meters are having difficulties registering for the program.

"Based on our communication with other government agencies, the 4Ps beneficiaries where they live do not have individual meters. So it's a bit difficult to register. On the other hand, those in the Visayas that only have a 25-kilowatt-hour threshold did not also register. Normally, the consumption might exceed that, so they decided not to register," Baltazar said during a Bagong Pilipinas public briefing on Tuesday.

"The other beneficiaries are quite difficult to reach, but we still encourage them to register since that aspect is still being studied, the appropriate threshold," she added.

A lifeline rate is a subsidized rate given to low-income users consuming electricity below 100 kilowatt-hours who cannot afford to pay their bills at full cost.

The scale of rate reduction varies depending on the prevailing rates of the distribution utilities, or DUs.