Submitting a simple service request to utility bills handler ARMS Ltd could cost you an hour of waiting and this is only possible thanks to “a fast track” system introduced lately.

The Water Services Corporation in Luqa has been handling a daily average of 750 clients, an increase of almost 25 per cent over normal levels after the energy benefit allowance was distributed by the government.

This situation led to a flood of complaints both to the print media and online by consumers who said they wasted whole mornings queuing in Luqa to iron out a simple query with regard to their often very complicated bills.

Still, a Finance Ministry spokesman said the average 250 customers who visit the Luqa offices to pay their bills were provided the service “within 30 minutes”. However, customers “with simple service requests”, such as submitting standard forms – who number about 150 daily, could be expected to wait for an hour before being serviced. This waiting time is an improvement and was achieved through “a fast track lane”, which has been operating for the last two months.

As for the rest of the customers who visit ARMS Ltd, mostly with complaints about bills, the spokesman did not give the average length of queuing time but clients who spoke to The Times said they experienced waiting times well in excess of an hour.

However, relief may be on the way for customers who have had to endure interminable queues because the company will this week extend its office opening hours.

“To ease the problem, as from (this) week the office in Luqa will be opening as per winter hours to be able to provide a better service to customers,” the ministry spokesman said.

Yet the offices are closed for holidays today and tomorrow.

Earlier this year, the newly-formed public company ARMS Ltd took over the meter reading and billing functions of WSC and Enemalta, a changeover that has been riddled with consumer complaints.

On normal days, ARMS Ltd handles about 600 customers daily, served by 15 full-time agents and, according to the spokesman, queuing time varies depending on the nature of the complaint.

“Alternative measures are being looked into with the objective of cutting the queuing time for customers. A number of identifiable measures have already been implemented, such as the introduction of multiple service lanes and increasing the number of agents working at front office,” the spokesman said.

As complaints on interminable queues poured in, the ministry spokesman pointed out that there was a surge of customer complaints because of queries related to the energy benefit allowance, distributed recently.

“The situation should improve in the next few weeks when the numbers of visiting customers decrease,” the spokesman said, adding that in the coming months the customer care front office will move to a larger, more adequate and central premises in Blata l-Bajda.

Although ARMS Ltd does not compile statistics about the source of customer complaints, the spokesman denied the problems were related to the new billing system introduced at the beginning of the year.

While admitting that the migration to the new system did have “teething problems”, he insisted most issues had been identified and corrected.

“Quality testing being carried out on bills issued over the last weeks show that errors generated from the billing system are very low and well within acceptable parameters. There remains, however, a number of mistakes where data was not being regularly updated by the consumers. This condition was evidenced during the energy benefit allowance scheme,” the spokesman said.

When asked whether the freephone number 80072222 advertised on the WSC website works, the ministry spokesman insisted the telephone number was “always functional” even though customers have complained that on different occasions the line seemed to be cut.

“About 700 telephone calls and 150 e-mails per day are being answered. This is well above the previous year average of 375 daily phone calls. ARMS will be increasing further the number of agents until the number of calls returns to normal,” the spokesman said, pointing out that a specific helpline – 188 – was set up to deal with queries on the energy allowance.

As for the promised internet portal that according to Minister Austin Gatt, who was responsible for WSC before this was moved under the umbrella of the Finance Ministry, had to be up and running by April but which has not materialised, leaving ARMS Ltd without an online presence, the spokesman said “portal development is at an advanced stage and testing will commence in the coming weeks”.

More stories from The Times in the News section.