The Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise has advised that it is “finalising all the aspects to put into force a new Legal Notice regulating utility bills, as promised in the Budget for this year.”
The statement comes after this morning’s Civil Court ruling which ordered the ARMS company to make a refund to a home owner in Malta for extra monies paid, citing that the way the company issued bills breached regulations.
The Ministry said that the amended Legal Notice and new system are expected to come into force in the coming weeks, effective as of January 2022.
It noted that the current Legal Notice was introduced in 2009. The only change since then has been the 25% reduction in bills.
The Ministry stated that the government made a clear commitment in Budget 2022 that the Legal Notice regulating the computation of electricity and water bills will be amended.
“With this new system, consumers will be banking the cheaper units, to be used when consumption increase,” it said.
“The Court’s ruling issued in the last hours will be analysed, and what was promised in this year’s budget should in no way prejudice any action that may still be taken,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry concluded by saying that “consumers in Malta and Gozo have among the lowest bills in the European Union, contrary to the times when they faced higher increases than those in European countries.”