GO technical glitch cost TV fundraisers €1.4 million in 'lost' donations

Updated at 5:40pm with Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation

A technical hiccup in GO's reporting structure led to a double registering of pledged donations during several telethons, including the L-Istrina campaign and two marathon fundraisers organised by the Nationalist and Labour Parties.

GO had been providing a specific infrastructural setup for telethons organised between October 2020 and January 2021. However, a technical issue in these infrastructures led to a double registering of pledged donations from GO registered numbers.

The main fundraisers affected by this glitch were the L-Istrina campaign organised by the MCCF, Dar tal-Providenza and Caritas Malta; and two marathon fundraisers organised by the Labour Party and the Nationalist Party.

"The issue was a system-related one, which only impacted the reporting structure. This means that donations originating from GO numbers were reported twice," a company statement reads. 

Given that it was a reporting issue, customers were not billed twice for their donation.

The overall discrepancy between the recorded amounts and the actual figures amounted to around €1.4 million over all. The entities affected were only notified of the issue in February, when GO commenced a reconciliation exercise and discovered the discrepancy.

“We go through rigorous testing of the system before every event, however no matter how prepared we are, we can never fully anticipate the unexpected. We have been in discussions with the organisations impacted by this incident and are looking at ways of how we can support them going forward," a GO spokesperson said.

"This incident is deeply regretted and we would like to reassure the general public that they were not billed twice for their generous contributions,” concluded GO’s spokesperson.

Affected parties 'disappointed'

The Archdiocese of Malta has since issued a statement expressing their regret with the issue. The Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese, Michael Pace Ross, said that almost half of the reduction - equivalent to €654,000 - will affect the plans of Dar tal-Providenza and Caritas.

Pace Ross expressed this sentiment directly with Nikhil Patil, the Chief Executive of GO, saying that this was not the level of service that the Archdiocese expects from GO.

Caritas issued a similar statement on the issue, confirming that the sum collected during the 'Maratona ta’ Mħabba', broadcast on local television stations on November 14 last year, was in fact €424,170 and not €668,280.

The Church charity said that several plans had already been drawn up for the sum raised, but took the opportunity to thank those who showed their generosity at the time, while appealing for further donations.

Dar tal-Providenza is also appealing for further donations. According to the charity, the actual sum raised during the 'Festa ta’ Ġenerożità' marathon is now €1,604,540, a decrease of €427,000 from that originally announced.

"This downward revision is going to affect the plans that Dar tal-Providenza had for this year and therefore, as it always does, it is going to put its trust in providence and in the generosity of the people of Malta and Gozo," it said in a statement.

On the Nationalist Party side, secretary-general Francis Zammit Dimech said that the party is working to establish how much of the money has been lost. However he doesn't see this having a large impact on the donations collected, as most donations were handed in-person.

MaltaToday is currently awaiting a statement from the Labour Party on the matter.

L-Istrina goes under by €948,000

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation said that the double registry of pledged donations during the L-Istrina 2020 telethon amounted to €948,000.