People who were given an energy voucher by the government have expressed concern over the way it is being implemented.

The energy vouchers were sent to around 27,000 households on or around the poverty line to help them cope with the electricity surcharge.

However, those who tried paying their electricity bill with the voucher at local post offices were refused when the electricity bill was lower than the voucher. Instead, they were told to go to a WSC office in Valletta.

They asked if they could let the bills pile up until they were equivalent to the voucher’s value but were discouraged from doing so.

Thus they ask if the government’s intention is to encourage people to use more electricity than they do so they don’t have the chore of having to go to Valletta to sort out their bill.

Besides which, people who receive the voucher and are sick or house bound cannot go to Valletta but they are still not allowed to send somebody else to sort out their claim in their stead as the clerks tell them they must go personally.