Enemalta expects to recover €10 million from some 400 cases of theft by customers who took up the amnesty option, a corporation spokesman told The Sunday Times of Malta.
The amount is only one third of revenue lost to electricity theft in 2012 alone, estimated at some €30 million.
It will take years for Enemalta to recoup the €10 million as some customers have asked to pay back their dues by instalments. Meanwhile, interest rates will be charged, the spokesman said. This amount is over and above the €500,000 The Sunday Times of Malta reported last week Enemalta would recover from the 665 ‘hidden’ files discovered by means of a ‘whistleblower’ – these did not benefit from the amnesty and had to pay their dues back within three days.
€161,788
Sum owed for electricity by a bakery
There is still a shortfall of some €20 million in theft from customers who did not come forward to benefit from the amnesty.
The government had given those involved six weeks to come forward with information on who supplied them with the meters, pay a fine and their dues back to the corporation, or face tougher penalties and prosecution. The deadline expired last April.
The Sunday Times of Malta accessed, through the court registry, official letters Enemalta is sending out to those accused of theft. They include hotels and construction companies.
One particular bakery in St Paul’s Bay owes the corporation €161,788 in electricity theft according to the official letter sent to its owner seen by The Sunday Times of Malta.
The letters are the first step in a legal procedure used by the corporation to recover revenues due in cases where customers refuse to settle payments voluntarily.
Enemalta said it is continuing its inspections to ensure that customers who have not reported irregularities in their meter readings are apprehended.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said the amnesty had been offered because he “did not wish to embark on a nationwide witch-hunt”.
But if Enemalta wants to recover the rest of its losses to theft, the hunt for those tampering with meters seems inevitable.
The amnesty had been heavily criticised by Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil who accused the government of tolerating corruption.