Tenants can now circumvent landlords who refuse to sign an application form entitling them to cheaper utility bills, however, this solution has a price tag of €516.
This comes years after a lobby group started demanding equal treatment because EU nationals were being charged more than their Maltese counterparts for utility bills through ARMS's two-tier pricing system.
The Up in Arms lobby group, which instituted a class-action suit against ARMS, claimed discrimination due to regulations making it difficult for them to benefit from residential rates, which are around 30 per cent lower.
In 2013, the group was told that passports, old ‘A’ identity cards and the new e-residence card would be accepted as proof that holders were entitled to pay cheaper residential utility rates at their primary residence. However, the arrangement did not work for everyone.
This ‘solution’ penalises tenants for the landlords ’shortcomings’
Some expats who rent their home are still paying higher bills because they are charged ‘domestic’ rather than ‘residential’ rates. This is because their landlords refuse to endorse a document, known as Form H, without which the tenants cannot qualify for a residential tariff.
In June last year, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Konrad Mizzi said agreement had been reached allowing tenants to benefit from the cheaper rates without needing permission from their landlords. But when tenants showed up at the ARMS offices in January, they were met with confused staff.
Some weeks later, the lobby group was informed that a solution had been found, in the shape of Form F2, available from ARMS, through which a temporary account would be created, depending on the dates on the lease.However, applicants need to pay a €466 deposit and a €50 application fee.
For Patricia Graham, Up in Arms spokeswoman, this ‘solution’ penalises tenants for the landlords’ shortcomings while creating a precedent as the deposit and fee were not required for form H.
This was unfair on tenants who have been paying the higher domestic rates for years, she said.
The group have, in the meantime, set up an online petition addressed to the Prime Minister, the European Commission and Parliament, the European Ombudsman and the European Broadcasting Union questioning whether this was a way of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Questions sent to the government last week remained unanswered.
Log on to www.change.org/p/why-should-we-pay-for-a-fair-tarriff (sic).