Non-Maltese EU citizens preparing to sue utility billing company ARMS Ltd for discriminatory pricing will be escalating their battle and filing judicial protests against Enemalta, the Infrastructure Ministry and Resources Ministry.
The judicial protests will target the group’s twin concerns: regulatory changes introduced by Enemalta with the blessing of both ministries; and financial compensation.
At the time of the changes, Enemalta was part of Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt’s portfolio. It is now part of Finance Minister Tonio Fenech’s remit.
The decision to take their fight to ministerial levels was taken after the group was reportedly told by ARMS’ legal team that the company was only an intermediary and not in a position to issue refunds.
According to the group’s lawyer, Juliette Galea, ARMS representatives have pledged to help each claimant “to the extent permitted by law and policy”.
But while the utility billing firm has indicated that it is willing to sit around a table, Dr Galea told The Times the Malta Resources Authority (MRA) had not forwarded information the claimants had asked for.
Dr Galea had asked the MRA to explain its legal justifications for tying utility tariffs to residency requirements.
Several clauses in the Malta Resources Act’s electricity supply regulations were amended by legal notice in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Some of these directly changed utility pricing structures, Dr Galea explained.
MRA CEO Anthony Rizzo “categorically denied” the authority had not cooperated with the group. The MRA has now filed a counter-protest against them, saying the claimants had not provided any evidence of discrimination and noting the authority could only investigate formal complaints.
Claimants, the MRA counter-protest noted, could file complaints with the Enemalta Advisory Panel.
Both ministries and Enemalta will now receive judicial protest letters in the coming days, with Dr Galea saying the group would likely seek redress before the administrative court before challenging the entire legal framework in higher courts.
Citizens listed on the judicial protest say they are being discriminated against by being forced to present a bewildering array of documentation, from utility bills to marriage certificates, passports, payslips and social security information, to prove Maltese residency and benefit from residential tariffs.
Non-residential tariffs, termed “domestic” by ARMS, are approximately 30 per cent higher.
ARMS Ltd has insisted it is simply applying existing legislation in requiring the extra paperwork from non-Maltese residents.
That legislation is in itself currently being changed, with the Government rolling out new e-residency ID cards to replace the former residency certificate system. But problems remain, Dr Galea said.
“There are indications that the entire structure violates several EU directives as well as the principal EU Treaty,” she said.
Approximately 80 non-Maltese residents signed the first judicial protest, with a further 20 having joined since then and names still being added on a daily basis.
Another group of about 100 residents have been unable to join the lawsuit, since their utility bills are issued in their landlord’s name rather than their own.
But while they will play no part in the group’s latest protest, group representative Patricia Graham said she was still taking down details of landlord-billed residents.
“Nobody explained the system to them when they moved to Malta, and now they’re stuck paying higher rates because landlords don’t want to transfer bills and expose themselves to the taxman.
“We’re telling people caught in this position to write to ARMS informing them that they are the ones paying the bills. We’ll continue to build a case for them, and anyone in the same boat should join our Facebook group,” she said.
A spokesman for ARMS said the company would comment formally in its reply to the judicial protest, while a Resources Ministry spokesman did not return multiple calls requesting a comment.