Smart meters have been tampered with.

Labour said yesterday that the smart meters racket was “a scandal of the Nationalist Party”.

It said the PN knew about the practice because it started under a Nationalist government, and it was only stopped under a Labour administration.

This showed the difference between the two governments, the party said.

It urged Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to explain why the former government took no action when the PN “knew well enough” what was happening.

In response, the Nationalist Party said Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi was in a state of panic because the liaison official between the Energy Ministry and Enemalta is being investigated in connection with the tampering of electricity meters.

The PN said Mr Mizzi should assume political responsibility for his political judgement in appointing such a person to this post.

The party said former energy minister Tonio Fenech, who was responsible for Enemalta, has categorically denied having any knowledge of the smart meters racket and will be suing Mr Mizzi for libel over his claims on One radio yesterday morning.

The Energy Minister is in a state of panic

An Enemalta technician was jailed for two years on Friday for tampering with electricity meters.

Around 1,000 smart meters have been rigged, with account holders allegedly paying €1,200 for the job.

The meters had their internal resistors bridged, resulting in them registering only a fraction of the electricity units actually being consumed.