After yesterday's appeal by Leader of the Opposition and of the Partit Nazzjonalista Alex Borg for the confusion at ARMS to be investigated by the consumer protection authority and the regulator, Minister Miriam Dalli - under whose political responsibility ARMS falls - has finally woken up and announced that she has requested the immediate appointment of an independent audit to establish all the facts and make the necessary recommendations, the Nationalist Party said Tuesday.

This confirms that the confusion in ARMS bills is still ongoing, including bills issued for new meters, even over the past two months, which are also being issued without the Eco-reduction, it said.

Now that, following the pressure exerted by the PN Leader, Miriam Dalli was forced to react and in some way show that she is taking action, the Partit Nazzjonalista expects the audit to thoroughly investigate what happened so that the full truth can be established. This includes determining precisely how many families were originally affected and how many bills remain impacted, the PN said.

Meanwhile, a separate statement issued yesterday by ARMS contradicts what the Minister stated in her own declaration, it said.

While the Minister is now admitting that there was confusion - to the extent that she felt the need to request the Permanent Secretary to immediately appoint an independent audit to investigate the matter - ARMS, in its statement, once again claimed that the error affected only a small percentage of its customers and that the system is now functioning properly, the PN said.

Contrary to ARMS' claims, however, it is consumers themselves who are disproving ARMS' version of events. Since the PN exposed this confusion in electricity and water bills, more people have continued to approach the Partit Nazzjonalista with higher bills they are being forced to pay because the Eco-reduction they were entitled to has disappeared from their bills, the PN said.

Whether those affected number in the hundreds or in the thousands, it appears that under Labour people have become mere numbers, to the extent that a few hundred or a few thousand people overpaying is considered of little consequence, it said.

Labour Government always ensures that the people reap the benefits, PL says

The Nationalist Party knows that it is not credible on energy bills and is therefore making a desperate attempt to gain some credibility, the Labour Party said in reaction.

"However, it can never be credible as when it was in Government, the PN burdened people with the costs; unlike what Labour Government has done. The actions taken by the Government, with the appointment of an independent audit, are consistent with the Government's ongoing position of ensuring that it always supports people and that everyone receives what they deserve."

"The Government's actions are also consistent with the belief that it built on what's positive and continues to improve wherever needed. ARMS has already explained that it has taken the necessary actions and ensured that the system is working well, and the purpose of the independent audit was already explained by the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Public Cleansing," the PL said.

"The Labour Government always ensures that the people reap the benefits and that everyone receives what they deserve. It was the Labour Government that reduced bills and kept them stable in the midst of international crises. Moreover, in recent years, the Labour Government corrected the anomalies left by the Nationalist Government in the way bills were processed, and thus more benefiting from such measures. Similarly, the feed-in tariff systems were restructured, which under agreements signed during Nationalist governments would have left people with nothing after a number of years. Therefore, it is clear that this Government has continuously worked in favour of consumers and has left hundreds of millions of euros in people's pockets. And it will continue to do so," the PL said.