>>105099434NTA but that was the case even when the girls were around. However back then merits only got you "tickets" which you could submit into raffles for things like 3.0, model updates/outfits, merch, etc. Then, a bit after Selen got her 3.0, they changed it to be "whoever the fuck Niji felt like updating" instead.
Selen and Pomu also mentioned how management always downplayed her accomplishments, so they didn't see anything wrong with not getting things since they were underperforming as far as they knew.
Doesn't make anything better since Elira/Enna clearly never had those issues, though.