A large number of people gathered outside PN’s Dar Centrali earlier this morning to begin the process of lodging complaints that they had been overcharged for electricity and water bills.

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech pledged to refund €50 million to consumers who had been overcharged, with many showing up this morning outside the party’s headquarters, despite Covid-19 restrictions stating that people cannot gather in groups larger than four. 

Grech’s pledge comes off the back of a leaked NAO report which concluded that consumers could have paid “extra charges” amounting to €6.5 million. 

An investigation found that ARMS, the company that manages utility bills, was calculating electricity bills in a manner that led to some people being overcharged.

The Opposition Leader said that a government led by him would see to it that the money is paid back in full, with the €50 million figure being calculated on the basis of an estimated €5.5 million overcharged over a nine-year period.

PN’s move, to welcome people to its headquarters to lodge complaints, comes just months before a general election is expected to be announced.

Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat kickstarted a similar initiative back in 2009, before he was elected Prime Minister, by encouraging people to register to join a Labour court case for the reimbursement of VAT charged on vehicle registration tax since 2004, when Malta joined the EU. 

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