The Nationalist Party has accused ARMS Ltd, the public entity responsible for water and electricity billing, of "incompetence and concealment" after alleging that thousands of Maltese households may have been overcharged on their electricity bills for more than a year, due to a system failure that removed the eco-reduction line from residential accounts.

In a statement later, ARMS denied that it concealed a system error and said it took action immediately.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, PN MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Graziella Galea said the problem, which dates back to 2024, resulted in families losing the eco-reduction discount they were entitled to, without being informed by ARMS.

Sammut referred to his speech in Parliament last November where he had raised serious allegations regarding promotions within the public entity, describing the 2023 promotion cycle as abusive and politicised, arguing that it was dominated by individuals linked to the Labour Party rather than based on merit.

He had cited a report by an internal appeals board, which found that out of 70 appeals submitted by employees, 60 were justified.

On Friday, Sammut said that that situation has exposed "chaos and incompetence" within ARMS, which he said was not only creating injustices among workers, but was now directly impacting families through higher utility bills.

"We can today confirm that this incompetence is translating into higher bills for many families," Sammut said.

He explained that under the eco-reduction scheme, residential consumers who register more than one person on their account and whose consumption remains below a certain threshold are entitled to a 25% discount on the eco-reduction component of their bill.

Sammut said that even when a residential household does not qualify for the discount, the eco-reduction line should still appear on the bill with a value of €0.

"In normal circumstances, that line is always there. However, due to a problem in the ARMS system, that line disappeared entirely from thousands of residential bills," Sammut said.

As a result, consumers who should have qualified for the eco-reduction lost the benefit entirely, not because they were ineligible, but because the system failed to calculate it, Sammut said.

Sammut said that the problem has been known to ARMS since at least February 2025, and that he possesses internal emails showing that the issue was discussed with senior officials, including the Chairperson of Nisa Laburisti, Nikita Zammit Alamango.

"ARMS fixed individual cases when people complained, but it never informed the public. Anyone who did not notice has been paying more for over a year," he said.

Sammut warned that as many as 40% of residential bills could still be affected.

"Even worse, when people complained, ARMS corrected the bill going forward, but the money already lost was not refunded," Sammut said.

Sammut said this meant families were effectively being overcharged without any compensation.

"This shows how six years of Robert Abela's governance, of favouritism and political appointments, has brought public entities to a level of incompetence where consumers are now paying the price," he said.

Sammut added that ARMS should have immediately informed all consumers with multiple persons registered on their accounts to check their bills.

"Instead, they chose to hide the problem, and consumers are paying for that decision," he said.

Regarding promotions within ARMS, Sammut said that the board that handled appeals "resembled a Labour Party board rather than a public entity".

He named several individuals on the board, including Nikita Zammit Alamango, Analisa Ciappara, Ray Falzon, and an official who had joined directly from former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's office. Sammut said three of the members were officials in Labour's executive.

"This led to a large number of resignations, even from people who lean towards Labour," he said.

Sammut said that Energy Minister Miriam Dalli "did nothing" to address the situation.

He called on Dalli to answer several questions, including how many bills were affected and how many remain affected today, whether families will be refunded the eco-reduction they lost; when she was informed of the ARMS system failure; what action she will take regarding the promotions controversy; and what happened to the standard operating procedures recommended by the board.

PN MP Graziella Galea said that the number of consumers paying higher electricity bills without the eco-reduction was significant.

She explained that the eco-reduction line should appear on every bill, even when a household does not qualify.

"For those who qualify, the discount is clearly visible. For those who do not, it should still appear as zero, but in these bills, the line is completely missing," Galea said.

Galea said that ARMS has been aware of the issue for almost a year, yet failed to issue any public notice.

"ARMS only fixed the cases where people complained, but the money already lost was never refunded. That is money that belongs to families," she said.

Galea said that many families still have not noticed the problem and are continuing to overpay.

"People are being robbed on their electricity bills," she said.

Galea appealed to consumers to check their bills carefully and to ensure the eco-reduction line is listed, and if not, to make a complaint with the public entity.

She also urged ARMS to issue a public notice, admit the mistake, ensure the line appears on all affected bills, and refund families for the losses they suffered.

"Consumer rights should always be protected, but through ARMS, the government is failing to do so. Instead, it is abusing consumers," she said.

Sammut concluded by saying ARMS employees had been instructed to fix only the accounts of those who complained, with no instructions to correct all affected accounts.

In a statement, ARMS Lts said that when it became aware of the technical issue, immediate action was taken, contrary to what was stated during the Press Conference by the Nationalist Party.

This clearkt shows that the matter was identified, discussed, and addressed without delay nearly a year ago. The number of clients affected was a small percentage of the total customers, ARMS said..

A technical fix was promptly developed and implemented to resolve the issue. Following this, a corrective process was carried out so that any affected accounts were adjusted accordingly, ARMS said. In parallel, any pending or residual cases were reviewed and revisions were carried backdated to ensure that customers were charged accurately and fairly.

At all times, ARMS said it acted responsibly and proactively, with the sole objective of safeguarding consumers and ensuring that its billing systems operate correctly and fairly. ARMS is fully committed to ensure that all consumers who are entitled to the eco-reduction receive it in full and without delay.

ARMS said it remains committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement of its systems and processes, and welcomes any consumers who have queries to come forward at any time.