Interest to be charged only on 'actual' electricity bills

David schembri

Feb 22nd 2010, 23:28

I will not be surprised that in the near future they will start charging interest on the Estimated bills. I just do NOT trust the Minister of Finance and the whole GonziPN structure. This government has a way in letting matters cool down and then doing exactly what it needs to do to get the deficit down. Because let us not forget - this is the objective of the whole exercise - the deficit. (It was also broadcast on EuroNews (minghajr tlaqliq) as THE PRINCIPLE MEASURE that the GonziPN govt is taking to address the deficit problem in Malta). GonziPN is out of money (after all the 'Money No Problem' Circus has now died down) and he will not stop until he has milked the population dry. Prosit Hej - What a New Style of Governing this is! Issa Nivvotalek darb'ohra.

Paul Barrett

Feb 22nd 2010, 22:19

@ E. Azzopardi

The reason the WSC (ARMS?) one is probably not working is possibly that they have an interest in hoping people will go to the "paid" version.

I personally made my own calculator (using Excel) which has proved to be very accurate but I must say that I do have problems when they send out bills with mixed tariff charges when their estimates differ from my actual readings - it may only be a few cents but across the whole of Malta it must add up to thousands of Euros.

p.s. I did not bother to try and calculate the footprint as I find this totally meaningless.

E. Azzopardi

Feb 22nd 2010, 19:38

The W/E calculator on the website of WSC has not been functioning for about three weeks now. Was this company ARMS prepared or not? The website has been under developemnt for such a long time. This should have been ready by 01 January 2010 when they took over and when of course we had to start paying through our noses for the water and electricity. This is the least they can do for their customers. I sent them an e-mail almost a week ago to ask them when this is coming back and no reply. Well, it seems nobody but nobody is listening.

Joseph E Briffa

Feb 22nd 2010, 17:57

What's the difference between domestic and residential.. On the Enemalta websites, different rates are quoted for the two Aren't residential and domestic the same thing? Could somebody from ARMS or Ene- or WSC enlighten us pl?

Christopher Pollard

Feb 22nd 2010, 17:53

I think the following is the difference between the groups. Residential applies to households where there are people with ID cards which WSC know about. Domestic applies to households where the people have no ID - like some foreigners without ID who live in their own accommodation or people who live in rented accommodation. Residential tends to be cheaper - or should I say slightly less expensive! I stand to be corrected though on my understanding of the situation.

M D Caruana

Feb 22nd 2010, 16:42

What are the chances of contacting ARMS LTD.. Freephone: when you manage to find the line unoccupied, you are kept waiting for half an hour with music down your ear. Re EMAILS: 5 went unanswered. I gave up

mario nicholas pace

Feb 22nd 2010, 16:41

Are we supposed to thank the minister about this clarification? I hope not . Does he know that the current rate whiuch the present government has burdened us with are the most expensive in Europe? Pls GRTU AND uHM do take note of this . By the way are the members of these unions still backing their representatives?

Joseph E Briffa

Feb 22nd 2010, 16:16

Though the penultimate paragraph appears prima facie to be contradictory, it seems to me that it does make sense on a re- reading. My interpretation is that no interest will be charged on the actual bill's amount, provided it is settled within 45 days of date of invoice. If however it is not settled by then, interest at 6% will start accruing as from the 15th day after the date of invoice.

Norman Stivala

Feb 22nd 2010, 15:27

Dear Sir,
The first enquiry although not directly related to the interest charged is a very good question which begs an answer from ARMS. What is the difference of a Domestic to a Residential bill, and why is there a difference at all, when in my dictionary domestic and residential are practically synonims.
Norman

Paul Barrett

Feb 22nd 2010, 15:16

By some quirk known only to the legal fraternity it seems that it is OK to change the rates for water and electricity in between reading the meters. It may be legal but it is morally wrong.
Rates up or down should only be changed when an actual reading is taken either by the visit of a meter reader or phoned in or preferably e-mailed or registered on the Internet by the occupier.
Estimates/guesstimates are just not right.

Ronald Cauchi

Feb 22nd 2010, 15:11

Of course Eenemalta arent going to charge interest on estimates. How can they? Estimates arent bills for services rendered. Paying for an estimate is as foolish as lending Enemalta money. If they want to be paid every two months they should read the meters every two months and send an actual invoice. I have never paid an Estimated Bill and have no intention of starting now, and its not because of Enemalta's magninimty.

S Debono

Feb 22nd 2010, 13:37

The equivalent of interest earned of a fixed account is sensible, but 6% is way high. Any chance of not paying and waiting for a mass pardon of pending dues. Many benefitted from such irresponsible behaviour up till recently. Why not now?

Nick Borg

Feb 22nd 2010, 13:00

Just out of curiosity...

Any lawyers out there (I know there are!!)

Does WSC have the right charge interest after 15 days considering that they have a monopoly?

Strong smell of fish to me....

John Zammit

Feb 22nd 2010, 12:54

Can someone please explain how the interest rate "will apply on bills not paid after 45 days from the date of the invoice" and at the same time "interest would be levied starting on the 15th day from the date of invoice"?

This is still confusing. Does it mean you only have 15 days of "interest free" credit?

frank grech

Feb 22nd 2010, 12:48

@ B Borg
The law states that to be charged interest, any unsettled bill must be ( and I quote in Maltese)
'cert, likwidu u dovut' so this will not apply in your case.

Peter Murray

Feb 22nd 2010, 11:41

There should be no bills issued for "GUESSITMATES" as currently issued as I for one have never paid for utilitiies which one assumes I use and will only pay for what I actually use-no more ,no less.To demand payment for what someone merely thinks I have used is tantamount to extortion as it is based entirely on supposition relating to previous usage.DO NOT PAY for imaginary usage and how can a demand for a massive 6 percent interest be acceptable ,as costs to recover any monies due should reflect the work done to effect such and no more(it costs the same to recover 100 euros as it does 1,000 euros yet an interest payment nets a lot more repayment money )as this practice is commonly known as PROFITEERING.

STEPHEN ZAMMIT

Feb 22nd 2010, 11:21

My last bill was for the period ending 31/07/2009. Isn't it about time these overdue bills are issued? This is the 7th month now. Is WSC expecting us to pay one year's bill in one payment? No estimate bill was received during this period.

Ray Mangion

Feb 22nd 2010, 11:08

Bofore penalising people for not paying bills, why doesn`t the minister check on the organisation to see what mess they are in? There are so many people including me, who have informed the organisation`s mangagement about moving house, stopping meters etc. How many times have they been ingnored and the estimated bills still keep coming in with ridiculous charges, when no one is in the premises; when they themselves cut the electricity and water of those premises. Why doesn`t the Minister penalise them for their incompetence?Their excuse is always the same, "backlog". Rubbish. Like everything else on this island, it`s always one sided and the victims are always us.

emanuel muscat

Feb 22nd 2010, 11:05

On 5/11/2007 I bought a maisonette. After filling the change of consumer form twice besides writing and foning water services several times, I still have not managed to receive a bill in my name, because previous owner failed to honour his obligations. Bills are piling. I hope that now nobody expects that I pay within two weeks if water services decide to treat my complaint of over two years. Please guide me accordingly. All my efforts were to no avail. I authorise the times to give you my phone number. Thanks.

Anthony Roberts

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:54

Thanks for clarifying that point re the interest. It would be great if a monthly standing order could be implemented as this would help a great deal rather than having to pay so much money at one time.

Paul Mallia

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:53

If we pay the estimates the ARMS will be having our money (in advance) towards making good for the Actual bill. Are they going to credit us with 6% interest in our favour for having paid in advance? Or shall we leave all the amount until we do receive the Actual Bill to affect a payment? It is not fair that we are charged 6% only on delaying payment and then they do not credit us with the same 6% for having paid before (in advance). At any rate the 45 day moratorium has effectively now been changed to 15 as that is the day they start counting the interest from. Do not take this as a joke. It has specifically been spelt out in this write-up of today. This is completely unfair and should be changed. People speak up!!!!!!

Paul Agius

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:50

If one will not recieve the bill knowing todays postal service, what proof shall the water services provide to show that the bill was deivered to it's customers.
It's either the water services have to secure their bill deliveries,maybe changing service provider or upgrade to registartion mail or they can't ask for such an interest on bills

Robert Cassar

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:40

The new bills are disorganised!

The front of the bill, stated the bill was to be paid by the 17th of February ( I received this only 7 days before) but on the back it said the bill was to be paid within 45 days. Which deadline was correct?

The bill also states that one can pay by internet banking or through the WSC website.

This was my only option as I live overseas, but when I tried to pay through the website my NEW account number (stated on the bill) did not exist! I then tried to pay through internet banking but since the account number had changed I had to set this as a new PAYE but again, the HSBC internet banking website kept prompting that the account number is invalid!

Can it be more confusing than that?

Besides (as a sideline) I am still waiting for the energy saving light bulb vouchers!

Robert Cassar

Paul Barrett

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:25

This article is a very much needed explanation of much that was quite foggy in the new bill - especially the "Hlas sa / Payable by: " date which for someone on a monthly income could find stressful as well as very difficult to achieve if they had not specifically saved up for it. True the 45 days element is mentioned, but well hidden in the small print combined with a threatening Euro 35 administration charge and unspecified disconnection charges.

mario gellel

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:23

THEY ISSUE THE INVOICE TODAY,THEY POST IT 40 DAYS LATER, YOU RECEAVE IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH, IT TAKES YOU BY SURPRICE WHEN YOU HAVE RUN OUT OF MONEY, IT IS STILL 15 DAYS TO GO FOR YOUR MONTHLY SALARY , SO YOU ARE CAUGHT WITH ONE HAND IN FRONT AND ONE AT THE BACK. YOU BECOME A VICTIM AND HAVE TO PAY THE 6% CHARGE.

victor caruana

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:17

Ain't it nice to know interest is only going to be charged on actual bills. Thank you Minister for being so fair.

B Borg

Feb 22nd 2010, 10:05

On my bill, I have a contested balance due to an error from their part... these arrears are being carried forward from a bill to another for some time now. Every time I enquire I am told that my complaint is still pending due the huge backload of reports waiting to be processed. Few days ago I called again asking if I will be charged interest on this balance...their reply was that interests are charged on bills issued from January onwards. Is this correct?

Anthony Mizzi

Feb 22nd 2010, 09:57

What's the difference between Domestic and Residential Tariffs and to which households are these applicable?