Paying bills in Malta

Utility bills are excluded from rent normally. Water, electcity, Gas, and then if you choose to install internet and a phone line.
We pay our bills online though some people use apps or within the bank itself or prepaid meters

If you buy a property here you need to take a trip to Valletta and register with ARMS for Water and Electricity.
The bills come every 2 months and paying couldn't be easier...
1. you can pay at the post office
2. you can pay via ARMS online portal
3. send your payment by cheque.

If you sign up for Telephone, Internet and TV, you pay monthly either by visiting the relevant providers outlet or via the online app they provide.

Gas bottles are cheap here (well for us brits they are) 1 bottle lasted me nearly a year (I only have a hob which uses gas and I use it a lot). The initial set up will cost you around €35 then (at the moment) €18 for refills. Most hardware stores stock them

Michelle

As a renter, we used to pay a bit extra to the landlord every month to cover the utilities.  Then when a bill would come in, they would show us and tell us what balance we had with them if we had over paid and that would go towards the next bill.  We used to pay, I think about €50 a month towards them and when we moved out, would always get what we were owed, if anything.

Luckily, I have always had very decent and honest landlords.

As an owner, I pay my water and electricity via my online banking - there is an option to make payments to ARMS in the transfers section for APS and BOV customers.  They come approx every two months.  I only ever paid late once thanks to my nephew visiting for a whole summer and having the AC on constantly haha so my electricity was higher than expected.  I cleared it the following payday but the late payment charge was very low.  I can't remember exactly but it was in the region of €1-€2.

My internet, they email when my bill is in every month and I pay online on the GO website.

Gas, I only use for the hob and for the gas fire in the winter.  I use 3 bottles per year (mostly for the gas fire as the one for the hob lasts AGES) and get them from the gas man who comes down the street every Wednesday and Friday.  He also will carry the bottles up the stairs for you - I live on the second floor with no lift so that's a great help.

The last one I bought was €16-something for the bottle.  When you buy your first gas bottle, Michelle already stated it's around €35 but make sure you keep your receipt because you can get this money back if you ever leave and return all your bottles.  Or switch to full electric.

Hi Priscilla, I receive the bill for internet which is 35 Eur monthly and then another bill from Arms Malta which is for water and electricity, every two months.  These are all the bills that I have for the moment. Since I am a property owner and not a tenant, in addition I have cca 200 Eur to be paid yearly for the mainentance and insurance of the common parts of the building. In regards what is included in the price of a rented property, I believe internet is almost always included and then the tenant pays on his own water and electricity. If renting a room, the price normally includes all charges. Hope I was of help Tijana

tufektijana wrote:

...rented property, I believe internet is almost always included and then the tenant pays on his own water and electricity.

I've lived in Malta for 10 years, rented for 8 years in many different towns with difference landlords before buying my own place and I have never ever had a rented property that included the cost of the internet in the rent.  Ever.  If that has been your experience, I would say that that is a really rare occurrence.

We are on our third rental and have never had internet included and I have never seen any advertised stating that.

I am renting, paying electricity,water & internet included telephone. My internet is by direct debit ( monthly), electricity & water I pay monthly to my landlord
My landlord  told me to take the Meter Reading end of the month and email him, he then let me know the total amount & when he comes to collect the rent I pay him altogether.
Now I do it myself instead of waiting for him to tell me how much it is.  Once I have taken the Reading ( end of the month)  I downloaded electric & water calculator form & fill in the reading immediately it tells you the total amount
As for the gas I buy it from the gasman, he comes every Monday morning and sometimes on Wednesday as well.

Rent is paid mostly in cash so all tax can be avoided by the landlord.
Utilities are often paid by card machine which though illegal is common practice by the Maltese landlords, it is so as to avoid detection of illegal renting activity, it is annoying to be robbed each month but after some years you just get used to the experience, its all part of being a foreigner in Malta. Phone/internet bill you can pay online if you are lucky enough to ever secure a Maltese bank account, or in cash at your local Melita shop, sometimes they will rob you too so be sure to keep all receipts when dealing with any Maltese company.

As for renting, be sure to have 0 expectation of receiving your deposit back from your landlord, think of it as a nice big tip for all the robbing of you which you have to look forward to.

Enjoy your experience.

Not all landlords are as bad as you say, we have had three really good ones and have had no problems getting our deposit back, all your posts are very negative.

Yup I am sure there are many good too, as you can probably guess from my admittedly extremely negative posts my time being based in Malta was not a good experience, nothing but scams theft racism incompetence and essentially all the things that should not be allowed in a European nation. I spend a great deal of time in Malta due to business, I would never rent again so it is either hotels or buying a place. As for all other services I would rather have an satalite phone than trust any of the local thieves with my money.

My negativity is based on repeated theft incompetence and general disbelief at what is standard practice and how the legal system is set to penalise and Rob anyone who does not have a Maltese passport or does not have the half million to buy one.

tonotwant wrote:

Yup I am sure there are many good too, as you can probably guess from my admittedly extremely negative posts my time being based in Malta was not a good experience, nothing but scams theft racism incompetence and essentially all the things that should not be allowed in a European nation. I spend a great deal of time in Malta due to business, I would never rent again so it is either hotels or buying a place. As for all other services I would rather have an satalite phone than trust any of the local thieves with my money.

My negativity is based on repeated theft incompetence and general disbelief at what is standard practice and how the legal system is set to penalise and Rob anyone who does not have a Maltese passport or does not have the half million to buy one.

Never had problems anything like you say is 'Standard Practice',

Been here 5 years and used GO for phone and internet at less cost than BT and with no errors at all.

With three landlords we have been on the correct tariff and payed the bills to ARMS direct so no 'Rip Offs' there and when we have moved we have had the deposit returned before we had even moved out.

I don't know how long you lived here but you were either very unlucky or acted in a way which perhaps contributed to your problems!

Ray

You sound like you’ve had some bad experiences. I’ve never been robbed (apart from an attempt by Melita - be very careful with them), always received my deposits back, have two Maltese bank accounts both secure.

Not sure what the card machine is that you’re referring to. We’ve always given our landlords cash for the utilities and they’ve gone over the bills with us versus what we’ve given them over the months and received all overpayments back when we left.

Maybe I’ve been lucky but I agree that as a foreigner, you do have to be extra vigilant

Likewise been treated well by most people, you get the odd attempt to scam you but I had those in the UK too, god have you had any work done on houses there? Its generally a disgrace, just like here.

The grass is always greener elsewhere, Malta is not all bad - like anywhere else.

I nearly fell foul with  utility bills.  Had to wait 6 months for landlord to present them. I pay €50 a month with rent for these.
I was given 3 bills. and a refund of €14 as I had overpaid.. great I thought and that was that.
Then later I decided to check the readings to calculate my next bill. I then noticed that the 1st 2 bills hadn't been paid, only the last one.
bill 1 was correct, bill 2 also included the 1 st unpaid bill, the 3rd included the 2nd unpaid bill.  I immediately fired off an email giving figures to landlord who, after a few hours thinking about it, replied asking how I wanted the €130 repaid...

Check the bills carefully.

When I first came in rented accommodation, I was presented a scruffy piece of paper with an amount scribbled on it to cover water and electricity. It was only for 6 months and I had the benefit of free storage for my stuff shipped from the UK until I bought my own place. My bills are now only half what I was being ripped off for. After my experience with ARMS, I pay by cheque, as I would never trust them with a direct debit. After several attempts to get my direct debit with Vodafone sorted out (they kept failing to set it up and then threatened to cut me off) I finally got them online and have had no further problems.

Vagrant wrote:

After my experience with ARMS, I pay by cheque, as I would never trust them with a direct debit.

I don't trust any Company with Direct Debits.  I prefer to settle my bills myself as they come in.