A Mellieħa resident yesterday filed a judicial protest against utilities billing company ARMS Ltd after receiving the final notice for payment of bills that are subject to arbitration proceedings.

Jason Vella, 36, complained that his electricity supply had been halted despite an agreement to pay off outstanding balances over a period of time.

He filed the judicial protest against ARMS Ltd, responsible for the collection of utility bills, accusing it of “gross negligence”.

Mr Vella explained that, last December, he signed an agreement with ARMS Ltd to pay outstanding balances in instalments. However, on the same day, the firm’s legal department initiated arbitration proceedings against him to pay the bills totalling in the region of €2,000.

While the arbitration proceedings were still pending, the company last month cut off his power supply, including of the common area, leaving him and his neighbours with no electricity to operate the lift.

Mr Vella said that, after admitting it had committed a mistake, the company reconnected him to the grid a day later.

He claimed that following this “negligent behaviour”, he was now faced with a similar situation despite pending arbitration proceedings and despite a payment agreement signed by both parties. These proceedings are ongoing and will resume in late September.

In his protest, signed by lawyers David Camilleri and Joseph Gatt, Mr Vella called on the company to get its act together and solve the “confusion” that had taken over its departments. The protest claims that the final notice means that he now faces the prospect of being deprived of electricity supply once again and is accusing the company of causing him undue suffering through its gross negligence.