OCA Circular No. 290-2022 outlines the implementation of the Judiciary Electronic Payment Solution (JEPS) across all First Level Courts and 42 pilot Second Level Courts in the Philippines, effective October 20, 2022. The JEPS aims to streamline the payment process for legal fees and court collections, making it more accessible for litigants. Initially optional, the use of JEPS will become mandatory for transactions exceeding PHP 1,000 starting December 1, 2022. Clerks of Court are directed to verify bank account details, assist users with payment options, and ensure compliance with new guidelines regarding the handling of payments and receipts. Compliance with previous circulars regarding bank account openings and registration for the JEPS administrator portal is also mandated.
October 20, 2022
OCA CIRCULAR NO. 290-2022
| TO | : | All Judges and Clerks of Court/Acting Clerks of Court of the First and Second Level Courts |
| SUBJECT | : | Revised Interim Guidelines for the Implementation of the Judiciary Electronic Payment Solution (JEPS) in All First Level Courts and Forty-Two (42) Pilot Second Level Courts |
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-two (42) 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
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. The use of JEPS shall still be OPTIONAL and shall be an additional (and preferred) payment channel of legal fees and other court collections for a temporary period starting 20 October 2022. Effective 1 December 2022, the use of JEPS shall be COMPULSORY for transactions amounting to more than One Thousand Pesos (PHP1,000.00), however, it shall nonetheless be optional and an additional (and preferred) payment channel of legal fees and other court collections for collections amounting to One Thousand Pesos (PHP1,000.00) and below;
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, subject to the following guidelines:
(a) In this case, 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 fee/s shall also be DIRECTLY DEPOSITED to the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) and Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJF) accounts. For court fines, the same shall be DIRECTLY DEPOSITED to its appropriate accounts;
(b) If a litigant/party opts to use JEPS, the UB Online channel may be used with no additional charges, regardless of the amount. Instapay may also be used if the total amount to be deposited and paid to the court is fifty thousand pesos (PHP50,000.00) or less. On the other hand, PCHC or PESONet channel may be used but the posting of payment made will take one to two days.
4. 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;
5. 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 JEPS;
6. For court stations under eCourt Case Management System, the assessment and payment process provided in the eCourt system shall be DISREGARDED if the party opts to use the JEPS in the payment of legal fees and other court collections. The concerned COC/ACOC shall proceed with the docketing of the case;
7. After payment, the litigant/party/requestor shall SUBMIT three (3) copies of the computer-generated Official Receipt (OR), 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";
8. The concerned COC/ACOC shall VERIFY the computer-generated OR 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 three (3) copies of the computer-generated OR;
9. 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. 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;
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. The case shall be docketed only after the petition/pleadings are filed and the assessed legal fees are paid in full, except for which the rules allow for staggered payment;
11. 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 Financial Management Office (FMO), OCA for appropriate action;
12. In case of erroneous payment (i.e., payment was 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;
13. 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;
14. 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;
15. 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
16. The COC/ACOC concerned shall also INDICATE the discrepancy in their monthly report and shall FURNISH the FMD, CMO, OCA, the electronic copy of the said report through [email protected];
17. All financial transactions of each fund (JEPS, court-authorized direct bank payments, and over-the-counter transactions) shall be REFLECTED in the Cash Receipt Registers (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 in OCA Circular No. 235-2018 dated 13 November 2018;
18. 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
19. 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.
All COC/ACOC of the First Level Courts who have not yet registered in the MS Forms provided by the FMD, CMO, OCA, for the creation of the required user accounts in the JEPS administrator portal are DIRECTED to register in the link provided below using the PJ365 account provided by the Court, within ten (10) days from the issuance of this circular.
https://forms.office.com/r/zavqkTQxgw
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.