Thousands may have missed out on electricity discount due to ARMS error - PN

Updated 7pm with ARMS statement

Thousands of households may have paid higher electricity bills after an internal ARMS system error resulted in eligible consumers missing out on the Eco Reduction for more than a year, the Nationalist Party said on Friday.

Mark Anthony Sammut and Graziella Galea, shadow ministers for energy and consumer rights respectively, said the fault, which dates back to 2024, meant the Eco Reduction was not being calculated or displayed on affected bills, depriving families of a discount they were entitled to receive.

However, in a statement on Friday evening, ARMS rejected the accusations, insisting the claims were "unfounded". 

The Eco Reduction is a discount applied to residential electricity bills for households that use electricity below a set threshold. The reduction, which can amount to up to 25 per cent, is calculated based on the number of people registered on the electricity account and is intended to reward households that are prudent in their energy consumption.

Even when a household does not qualify for the discount, the Eco Reduction normally still appears as a line item on the bill with a zero value.

However, Sammut said that because of the system failure, the Eco Reduction line was not appearing at all on thousands of bills - not even as zero - meaning eligible consumers were losing out without realising it.

He said ARMS had been aware of the issue for some time and that internal emails sent to senior management acknowledged the problem.

Based on estimates, he said around 4 per cent of electricity bills were affected.

When consumers complained, ARMS corrected the issue on future bills but did not backdate the discount, meaning families did not recover money they had already overpaid.

“Those who check their bills and notice the error start receiving the discount on subsuquent bills, while those that don't check lose out,” Sammut said.

Sammut said the Opposition had carried out its own investigation after complaints about higher electricity bills began appearing on social media.

He called on Energy Minister Miriam Dalli to explain how many people were affected, how much money was lost, when she was informed of the problem, and why the public had not been notified.

Galea urged consumers to check their electricity bills carefully and ensure the Eco Reduction was included, appealing to ARMS to publicly acknowledge the error and inform affected customers.

She said the situation amounted to consumers being unfairly deprived of a benefit designed to reward families who saved energy.

Claims of favouritism and internal chaos at ARMS

The Opposition said the billing failures were occurring against a backdrop of internal turmoil at ARMS, which it blamed on political favouritism.

Sammut alleged that competent employees had been removed or sidelined in favour of Labour Party loyalists, describing promotions within the company as abusive.

He said more than 70 appeals had been filed by workers contesting decisions taken by ARMS, with around 60 of those appeals being upheld in favour of employees.

The interview board responsible for promotions, he said, was effectively a political board rather than a professional one, naming senior figures who he said held both executive and political roles within the Labour Party. 

According to Sammut, the situation had led to several resignations, including from individuals traditionally aligned with the Labour Party who had become disillusioned with the company’s leadership.

He said repeated calls for intervention had gone unanswered, adding that the same chaos affecting workers was now being reflected in consumers’ electricity bills.

Unfounded

In a statement, ARMS insisted it had acted "responsibly and proactively" and rejected the "unfounded claims" it had concealed any system error related to the eco-reduction mechanism.

ARMS said action was taken "immediately" when the technical issue was noticed.

"The matter was identified, discussed, and addressed without delay nearly a year ago," ARMS said.

It added that the number of clients affected was "a small percentage of the total customers". 

"A technical fix was promptly developed and implemented to solve the issue."

A corrective process was carried out and "any affected accounts were adjusted accordingly". Moreover, any pending or residual cases were reviewed and revisions were carried, backdated to ensure that customers were "charged accurately 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."