Utility tariffs discrimination no more: EU residents to be treated as Maltese

There's light at the end of the tunnel for the European expats living in Malta who have for countless months lobbied against the discriminatory utility tariffs.

EU residents in Malta are charged higher rates because their Maltese residency is not accepted by ARMS Ltd, the government's utility billing arm, on the basis of their identity card.

But during a follow-up meeting held yesterday evening with Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, the EU residents were finally informed that ARMS Ltd would be accepting and processing the new e-residence cards and the 'A' ID card in order to secure services for water and electricity.

"This is not over.  There is still much to do.  The two-tier tariff is illegal under EU Law.  We may have room to celebrate this small step and many will benefit from the decisions taken last night, but we must fight on until the domestic rate is abolished," Up in Arms spokesperson Patricia Graham said.  

EU residents currently pay the higher domestic rates.

The positive news overturns a recent policy adopted by ARMS Ltd that was not accepting the e-residence card due to the expiry date.

During yesterday's meeting with the minister, the ARMS class action group were represented by Patricia Graham. ARMS CEO James Davis and entity lawyer Matthew Grech were also present.

Graham told MaltaToday that all consumers would now be treated as Maltese nationals, eliminating differentiation in tariffs between Maltese nationals and other nationalities.

The meeting came about as a result of ongoing efforts by the 'Up in ARMS' group to end the two tier, higher Domestic tariff that many EU Nationals, were subjected to.

A Maltese National was only required to show an 'M' ID card when applying for utilities, which like the 'A' ID card, was expired. But in the case of the 'M' ID card, this is extended. To ensure equality, a decision has now been taken for ARMS Ltd to accept the 'A' ID card or the new e-res-card.

Children not in possession of the ID card would have to present birth certificates, which are already required for the new e-res-card.

"The downside, and efforts will continue in this area, is that this decision will not help those tenants who are billed directly by their landlord and those whose landlords refuse to either register tenants or place the bills in the name of the tenant," Graham said.

"It is up to us and the group to push forward with our goals to inform and educate anyone considering renting a property in Malta."

Graham said that questions must be asked before signing a lease, including whether the landlord would agree to register the tenants.

According to a parliamentary question tabled in parliament by the Ministry for Energy, the consumption charge on domestic accounts amounted to €27,081,941 in 2010 rising to €33,491,169 in 2012. Service charge amounted to €6,214,764 and €7,253,089 respectively.