News | Sunday, 28 February 2010

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Late ARMS bill demands payment within 15 days

Teething problems for ARMS, the company that handles Enemalta’s and the Water Services Corporation’s billing, have resulted in bills being delivered late and payment dates that don’t even respect the 45-day deadline.
An invoice seen by MaltaToday (pictured) was issued on 17 February 2010 but only received in the post on 23 February 2010 – by far one of the more extreme cases of late deliveries.
But even in this invoice, the date by which the bill must be paid does not even allow for the customary 45-day period mentioned on the back of the invoice: the customer is called on to pay by 4 March, that is within 15 days.
ARMS (Automated Revenue Management Services Ltd) charges a 6% interest per annum on late payments of over 45 days, which start accruing from 15 days after invoicing. A €35 administration charge is also levied on each dishonoured payment.
Payment on the WSC website proved impossible this week on several invoices, since neither account nor payment invoice numbers were recognised by the website.
Last Wednesday, MaltaToday reported that the Birgu local council had not been informed they could process utility bills because ARMS had not informed the council beforehand. Christine Bonello, the executive secretary of the council, confirmed that “contrary to what is written on the Enemalta bills, we do not accept any money to forward to ARMS so that electricity bills are settled.”
Bonello explained that the misunderstanding may have stemmed from the fact that up until three years ago, the local council used to provide this facility for Enemalta, but it had then opted out of renewing the agreement.
“But since the new billing system was put into place, they just included the Birgu office as a payment centre without consulting with us. People would find it convenient to pay at a local council office, so as you would expect, we had a few walk-ins.”

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