The anger and frustration felt by non-Maltese EU nationals at being charged higher utility tariffs has reached a British newspaper.
The bills are ridiculous. When I tell my Maltese neighbours they are incredulous this is going on
In an article titled Brits Hit By Power Bill Rip-Off On Holiday Isle, the Sunday Express ran the comments of Patricia Graham, who is a registered foster parent and regularly cares for Maltese children.
She told the newspaper that she has been “left almost penniless after receiving water and electricity bills totalling €24,000 over three years as Malta’s government charges foreigners 60 per cent more for water and 35 per cent more for electricity than locals.
“The bills are ridiculous. When I tell my Maltese neighbours they are incredulous this is going on,” she was quoted as saying.
Ms Graham is the spokeswoman of ARMS Class Action Group, which represents a group of European expats fighting the issue on a legal front.
She said she had moved from Aberdeen, Scotland, and cared for three Maltese children. She was paid €210 a week or €70 a child.
She has now joined a campaign group, called European Union Against Discrimination, which is demanding an end to the inflated tariffs and, earlier this month, presented a petition to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat demanding they must be treated equally to the Maltese and that they stop being treated like cash cows.
More than 1,120 European expats signed the online petition calling on the Government to end “ongoing discrimination” against them on a number of issues.
The petition says the Government has remained silent despite the fact that EU nationals living in Malta are being discriminated against by being charged between 35 and 60 per cent more than their Maltese neighbours for several basic services.
These include car registration, home loans, television and internet services and e-residence cards – but the hottest issues remained energy bills and bus fares.
Electricity pricing regulations divide household electricity use into two bands: a ‘residential’ tariff for the primary home of Maltese citizens and a ‘domestic’ tariff, which is 30 per cent higher, reserved for second homes and non-residents.
Water prices also vary. While consumers on residential tariffs are charged €1.47 per cubic metre of water, those on domestic tariffs pay €2.30.
Last December, several EU citizens living in Malta filed a class action lawsuit claiming utilities billing company ARMS was being discriminatory by making it inordinately difficult for them to benefit from residential rates.
In February, a group of EU citizens filed a constitutional case contesting the discriminatory utility bills’ pricing legislation.