Technical problems at GO has resulted in a €1.4 million discrepancy in donations reportedly collected at major telethons in Malta, including those organised by the Labour Party and Nationalist Party.

“A number of telethons organised between October 2020 and January 2021 required specific infrastructure provided by GO that brings into play multiple technologies for the telethons to operate. On these occasions, however, a technical issue led to a double registering of pledged donations from GO registered numbers,” the telecoms company said.

This meant that donations originating from GO numbers were reported twice.

The fundraisers affected by the glitch include Istrina campaign organised by the MCCF, Dar tal-Providenza, Caritas Malta and marathons from the two major parties.  

This issue was brought to light in February following “exhaustive reconciliation and reporting procedures we go through when these telethons are over”.

“We have been in discussions with the organisations impacted by this incident and are looking at ways of how we can support them going forward. This incident is deeply regretted and we would like to reassure the general public that they were not billed twice for their generous contributions,” GO said. 

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Malta said that error has derailed the original plans of Dar tal-Providenza and Caritas, impacting this year’s operations of these two charitable entities of the Church. The Administrative Secretary of the Archdiocese, Michael Pace Ross, said that they lost almost half this amount, equivalent to €654,000.

Other entities are yet to comment.

What do you think of the issue?