The government and Enemalta Corporation have decided to move up a notch in the fight against electricity theft.

Last week, Investment, Industry and IT Minister Austin Gatt announced that the government and Enemalta had set up a “last chance saloon” for people to regularise their position if they have been stealing electricity.

Dr Gatt and Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter explained that people will have three months to register their status and pay a fine – no questions asked – to wipe the slate clean.

However, he said, Enemalta will come down like a tonne of bricks on people who persist in stealing power from the grid. He said that the law has been changed to allow Enemalta to deal directly with people who have been found to have tapped into the grid illegally.

In addition, he said that Enemalta will now be a party in any case that is prosecuted, which means that it can directly safeguard its own interests. In Dr Gatt’s words: “The majority of the population pay their bills regularly and it is intolerable that people just steal power. It’s plain and simply not fair. Gone are the days of suspended prison sentences, we will be insisting on prison,” he said.

He also pointed out that people will also have to pay hefty fines if caught stealing after the three months’ grace period. In addition to that, they will be disconnected from the grid until they pay up – but will have to pay for their meter to be removed and later re-installed. A further 10 per cent fee is also imposed over the top.

So that’s it, no more wrist slaps, and what a good job too. Dr Gatt explained that electricity theft accounted for some Lm7 million in financial losses suffered by Enemalta. At the end of the day, the public is having to pay out that Lm7 million.

Dr Gatt said that one should not get ahead of himself and suppose that this will bring the price of electricity down. But it definitely should allow Enemalta to improve other facets of its operations, such as more efficiency at a paper pushing level, more efficiency from staff and various other areas.

But it is a very encouraging fact indeed. Many people objected to the water and electricity surcharge, and one of the most common complaints heard was: “I would be able to accept it if they cracked down on people who steal electricity.”

Well, here we finally have an outline plan to make sure that abuse is curbed, but it does not end there. Dr Gatt and Ing. Tranter explained that Enemalta needed to make the leap to the digital age.

Dr Gatt explained that the leap would bring tremendous benefits, especially in billing. He said that Enemalta wanted to reach a stage where it could use its own cables for data transfer to monitor exact patterns of consumption that will benefit law-abiding customers greatly as there will be an exact figure of consumption that they can check.

Moreover, he pointed out that electricity theft was closely linked to the type of meters used, explaining that some 50,000 of them were state-of-the-art while the remaining 200,000 or so were of varying models that use the old-fashioned wheel system. He said that newer models will eventually replace all these.

Theft, at whatever level, is intolerable. Our courts have always been harsh on those who steal. However, electricity theft was always treated a bit more leniently. Hopefully, the amendments to the law will allow for harsher penalties to act as a deterrent to others.

Electricity theft must be stamped out to ensure a just and fair service for all customers. This is a step in the right direction. We hope that the rhythm is kept up.