Shadow Ministers Mark Anthony Sammut and Graziella Galea have accused ARMS and the Labour Government of knowingly allowing serious billing failures to persist for more than a year, resulting in 50,000 consumers being denied the eco reduction they were entitled to.

ARMS, in a statement later, denied the allegations, and said that it is not true that 50,000 consumers were affected by the technical issue. It said that only a small percentage of its customers were affected by the change in the system, which issue it said was addressed immediately.  

Speaking at a press conference, Sammut said the Nationalist Party had exposed the issue a week earlier, but instead of addressing it transparently, ARMS and the PL attempted to downplay the situation, claiming it was a minor technical issue that had already been resolved. He insisted the problem remains unresolved and continues to affect many consumers, some of whom are still unaware they were overcharged.

Sammut presented internal ARMS emails which, he said, prove the corporation had been aware of the issue since at least February 2024. An email dated 21 February 2025 from customer care agents refers to ongoing problems with residential accounts not reflecting the eco reduction and admits there was uncertainty on how to handle the situation.

Further correspondence revealed that around 50,000 accounts needed to be reclassified from "MR Control 001" to "003", with misclassified residential accounts missing out on the eco reduction. Sammut said the issue also affected newly installed meters, including those installed as recently as a month and a half ago, whose bills still failed to include the reduction.

Minister Miriam Dalli a few days ago said that the number of customers who were hit by the snag amounted to "hundreds". An independent audit has been assigned to establish all the facts related to the issued and make the necessary recommendations.

In today's press conference, Sammut also highlighted additional system failures discovered in December, when ARMS found that payments made by consumers in November 2025 - totalling €304,428.12 - had disappeared from the system and no longer showed as settled. Of these, 217 payments could not be reconciled automatically and had to be processed manually.

While thanking ARMS customer care staff for assisting affected consumers, Sammut stressed that responsibility lies with ARMS management and the Labour Government. He said the unacceptable element was not the initial mistake, but the fact that ARMS knew about it and failed to inform customers or invite them to verify and appeal their bills.

Sammut placed political responsibility on Minister for the Environment, Energy, and Public Cleanliness Miriam Dalli, accusing her of leaving the same leadership in place despite being aware of the problems. He said it was only after pressure from the PN that the government announced an audit, adding that such an investigation should have been launched when the issue first emerged, not a year later.

Graziella Galea said the case highlights a clear distinction between the PN and the PL, noting that it was the PN that uncovered the scandal. She argued that without the PN's intervention, the government would have continued concealing the error. According to Galea, the leaked emails show the problem was not only unresolved but had worsened over time.

She concluded by urging consumers to check their ARMS bills and report any missing eco reduction, saying the core issue was a lack of transparency and accountability by ARMS and the government.

ARMS denies allegations, says only a few clients were affected

In response, ARMS denied the allegations made by the Nationalist Party.

"While not engaging in political or partisan discourse, ARMS feels compelled to note with regret that the Opposition is persisting in trying to alarm people about the eco contribution on bills, and is doing so through statements that are unfounded. Even today it did so by being selective in the correspondence it published," ARMS said.

ARMS denied that the 50,000 people, as mentioned by the Opposition, were being denied the eco reduction, stating that this is also confirmed through correspondence from ARMS itself through replies to the email published by the Opposition.

"At this stage, ARMS will await the outcome of the independent audit appointed by the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Public Cleanliness, out of respect for the process. However, ARMS states in the clearest possible terms that the figure of 50,000 is not true and confirms that only a small percentage of its customers were affected by the change in the system, which issue was addressed immediately. Once again, ARMS refers to the statements already published, which confirm: That the system is operating properly; That there is a guarantee that no one will lose anything that is rightfully theirs."

"We also remind that it is residential bills that benefit from the eco contribution."

With regard to the aforementioned payments, ARMS said that no payment disappeared. "ARMS realised on the same day that there was a technical issue with one local bank, and immediate contact was made with the bank so that the issue could be addressed, as in fact happened."

The ARMS statement included a screenshot of email correspondence, with sender and recipient names blanked out, showing one person asking whether 50,000 incorrect bills had been issued. The other responded "No".

'Another day, another lie from the PN' - PL

The PL said that this was "another lie from the Nationalist Party."

"Today, it held a press conference outside the ARMS offices in Blata l-Bajda. It was the agency itself that exposed the PN's lies. The Ministry for the Environment, Energy, and Public Cleanliness has already appointed an independent audit to ensure that everyone gets what they deserve. This is because the Labour Government has always ensured that it gives people cheaper bills and fairer systems."

"The only party that has never given people what is theirs is the Nationalist Party, and it continues to do so to this day. It would have been better if, since its spokespersons went all the way to Blata l-Bajda, they had done another crowdfunding and paid their bills so that perhaps they would stop stealing from the people," the PL said.