ARMS class action group exasperated over billing company’s handling of bills

In a series of hurdles EU residents living in Malta continue to face with ARMS Ltd, the government’s billing company, a family of four had their water and electricity suspended over bills that have been in dispute for over six months.

In a letter sent to the authorities, the Energy Minister and the Prime Minister, Up in Arms spokeswoman Patricia Graham said the family was left without services for the duration of the weekend.

The family in question, whose bills have been in dispute for the last six months, have been allegedly told to pay 30% of the outstanding disputed bills, or their services would remain suspended.

Graham said a second family had undergone the same treatment, when the husband desperately required the elevator to be switched back on for his disabled wife.

“He paid €5,000 for a bill which was not even his, but a bill dating back to the house demolished 11 years ago to build apartments.” Graham said.

The Up in Arms Malta group, which has also filed a class action lawsuit, has been involved in similar disputes with the authorities since its inception. The group’s accountant has also pointed out various anomalies in bills. The group had also filed a constitutional case.

Correspondence seen by this newspaper confirm the group’s repeated attempts to contact the authorities.

According to Graham, the family in question had also attempted to hold meetings with ARMS Ltd to settle the dispute, but the entity reportedly went ahead to issue orders to have the services disconnected.

“I have spoken with ARMS at length again, to no avail, as seemingly the people involved only work till noon.  The consumer, it seems, is meant to leave work and go to ARMS’s premises to resolve an issue that should never have arisen in the first place,” Graham insisted.

According to the group’s accountants, the family whose services were suspended should have paid €5,692.63, residential rates but instead paid €8,466.87.

“ARMS received these files on three separate occasions, but have been ignored. Despite the family’s request to meet ARMS, the meeting was never convened,” Graham added.

A government’s decision taken at the end of last year should have brought discriminatory utility tariffs to an end. EU residents in Malta were charged higher domestic rates against the cheaper residential rates.

Complications however arose after a number of landlords refused to switch accounts from domestic to residential. Moreover, a number of tenants ended up paying bills owed by previous tenants.