Man seeks compensation for power cut mistake

A man from Swieqi wants compensation from Enemalta after his electricity supply was cut off for several hours because of someone else's outstanding bills.

Enemalta has apologised for the mistake but Alex Bartolo is insisting on being compensated for the inconvenience it has caused him. He said he would be writing to the Enemalta chairman.

He would like to settle the matter amicably but failing this he is prepared to take the case to court, he added.

When Mr Bartolo returned from the beach at around 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday he found an Enemalta notice affixed to the door of his apartment.

The notice informed him that his electricity service had been disconnected because of outstanding bills and that he should contact the customer care office at Luqa.

After checking and finding that he did not owe the corporation any money, he realised that the account number on the notice did not match his.

He called the Luqa office, got no reply, drove to the power station in Marsa and was directed to the Water Services Corporation in Luqa. He was then told to return to Marsa, by which time he was literally begging for his service to be restored.

Finally, an Enemalta employee was instructed to reconnect his service at about 8 p.m. and Mr Bartolo was asked to go to Luqa first thing in the morning to settle the matter.

It transpired that the outstanding account related to another meter in the same block, he said.

Last February he almost fell victim to a similar mistake when he received a notice warning him that his power supply would be cut off within three days unless his outstanding bills were paid. The error had been recognised before his supply was suspended. But this time round no warning notice was sent.

Mr Bartolo - who said he always pays his bills within 48 hours - insisted that an apology from Enemalta was not enough to make up for the trouble he had been put through.

He and his wife went abroad regularly and had the electricity supply been cut off when they were out of the country they would have found a "disaster" on their return, he added.

Asked about the procedure for suspending the electricity supply in cases of unpaid bills, a spokesman for Enemalta said all water and electricity bills were issued by the WSC, which every two weeks provided Enemalta with a list of accounts that had fallen in arrears. Suspension of service was carried out by both Enemalta and WSC according to requirements. In Mr Bartolo's case the supply had been suspended by the WSC, the spokesman said.

Clients were given formal notification of suspension of service in writing and two weeks within which to pay up. An account was considered to be in arrears when payment had still not been made 45 days after the date of invoice

Asked whether Enemalta provided compensation in cases similar to Mr Bartolo's, the spokesman said the WSC and Enemalta deeply regretted any inconvenience caused. If the consumer suffered material damages due to the suspension, he should provide details of his claim to Enemalta's customer care section for consideration.