The “Up in Arms” lobby group held a protest yesterday in St George’s Square Valletta, during the protest Patricia Graham, founder and spokesperson for “Up in Arms” stated that “the domestic rate ends here.” Our members, who number in excess of 5,000, will be instructed to take their own meter readings and pay only the residential rate, calculated against the number of persons living in the property and no more.
She added, “the current discriminatory practice regarding tenants of properties must end, and this is our only option.”
Ms Graham said that the situation has been highlighted recently, in the “surge of threats made against tenants, requests for police attendance, and questionable garnishee orders placed on tenants who refuse to pay the difference between the residential and the very much higher domestic rate.”
“Garnishee orders are a means to an end IF and WHEN a Judge finds responsibility for a debt. At the moment orders are being placed by those who refuse to endorse Form H (change in number of persons declaration) and who expect the tenant to pay up. It’s not happening anymore. If a landlord fails to endorse Form H, then on his/her head be it. We urge the Courts to review the debilitating garnishee order based on domestic rate-zero resident’s application and issuance,” Ms Graham added
She went on to say that a newcomer relocating to Malta would never expect to be paying more for their utilities, why would they, and many receive a massive shock when eventually, (because Domestic properties are billed once every 6 months, if that,) they are faced with bills incomprehensible to day to day budgeting and neither the Landlord or the Estate Agents are advising those tenants of such.
During the event leaflets pertaining to the discriminatory practices were handed out to numerous locals and tourists, the leaflets outlined details of the protest and the EU advisory service now being offered to residents of Malta who find themselves in this dilemma.
Ms Graham concluded by pointing out that the EU Commission, were under the illusion that this situation had been resolved, with the introduction of passports as an acceptable means of identification to receive the residential rate. She said that the protest group have informed them that currently tenants also require a landlord’s permission to receive the lower residential rate.