ARMS Ltd, the entity responsible for the billing of utility bills, said that technical issues affecting a small percentage of accounts following an October 2024 system upgrade have been fully resolved, insisting that the billing system is now working properly – but Energy Ministry has asked for an independent audit into the matter regardless.
In a statement, the entity was reacting to a second press conference held by the Nationalist Party, reiterating that the technical issues affected only a small percentage of customers following the October 2024 systems upgrade.
On Monday, PN Leader Alex Borg accused the government and ARMS Ltd of serious mismanagement after claiming that "thousands" of Maltese and Gozitan households were wrongly denied the Eco Reduction on their utility bills.
Also on Monday, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli said that "hundreds" were affected by the technical issue which she said had been resolved.
The company said the issue had been identified during a routine systems check, after which IBM, the technical service provider, identified the problem and developed a corrective fix that was applied to the affected accounts.
“Therefore, the system is in order and is working properly,” ARMS said on Monday.
“While ARMS has reconfirmed that the system is functioning correctly, the Minister for the Environment, Energy, and Public Cleanliness, Miriam Dalli, has asked the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry to promptly appoint an independent audit to establish all the facts and make the necessary recommendations,” the Energy Ministry said in a statement.
The company also clarified that any clients who may have been impacted by the system upgrade have already been identified.
For further reassurance, ARMS said it is again reviewing any accounts that may have been impacted.
ARMS also said that if any accounts are determined to be eligible for the eco-reduction, all necessary corrections will be made, and refunds will be issued automatically.
“Such refunds will be issued automatically with no further action required from the customer,” the entity said.
Consumers were encouraged to contact ARMS on the freephone number 80072222 or to visit one of its branches for further assistance.