The National Statistics Office had to resort to sending utility bills handler ARMS Ltd a legal letter after it failed to furnish certain data.
ARMS, which has been inundated with complaints by angry consumers about its inefficient service, only started passing on the data requested by the statistics office a few days after receiving the letter earlier this month.
“We sent a legal letter and ARMS replied in detail explaining the delay. They also started coming in line with our request,” Michael Pace Ross, NSO director-general, said when contacted.
Ironically, ARMS was recently harshly criticised by the Labour Party for sending out hundreds of unsigned legal letters threatening to seize non-paying consumers’ assets – without even having a legal office. Finance Minister Tonio Fenech later admitted the letter had been issued prematurely as the result of “an automatic run”.
The NSO is empowered by the Malta Statistics Authority Act to collect information from any entity – including households, private companies and government entities – to be used for statistical purposes.
ARMS, a joint venture between the Water Services Corporation and Enemalta Corporation, was asked by the office to send in a particular set of statistics earlier this year, Mr Pace Ross explained, without giving details. “We always try to use the actual data instead of having our statisticians calculating the estimates,” he said.
If the deadlines are not met, the company or department receives a number of verbal and written reminders. However, if all else fails, then the statistics office resorts to sending a legal letter urging compliance.
“Not complying could eventually lead to criminal proceedings in court and, if found guilty, a fine.”
A Finance Ministry spokesman said the delay was caused by the fact that the information re-quested required an adaptation of the IT software.
He also pointed out it was normal procedure for entities to receive such letters if they fell back on sending in the data requested.
ARMS last week started submitting the information requested and should soon pass on all the required data, the spokesman added.
Mr Pace Ross said ARMS had not been targeted for any reason and pointed out that other companies had been fined in the past. “The legal letter is a last resort and we don’t like to go down that road. We are interested in the data and not the fine.”