Malaga water company to refund its customers over billing gaps

More than 59,000 customers in Malaga will receive refunds after the city’s municipal water company confirmed it had overcharged users because of a long-running billing error.

Empresa Municipal de Aguas de Malaga (Emasa) has approved the return of €1,268,266 to 59,315 customers, with an average payment of €21.38 per account. The issue affects domestic and business users across the city.

According to the company, the problem dates back to January 2013 and was linked to the billing system used when meter readings were estimated rather than taken directly.

The errors were first found during an internal review

In these cases, when actual readings were later recorded, the additional water consumption should have been distributed across previous billing periods. Instead, the system charged the full amount in a single bill, which pushed some customers into higher tariff bands and led to overpayments.  The discrepancy was detected during an internal review, after which Emasa launched a detailed audit to identify all affected accounts and calculate the sums owed.

Around 75 per cent of those affected, mainly customers who pay by direct debit, will receive the money directly into their bank accounts. Other users will receive credits on future bills, while former customers or those with closed accounts will be contacted individually to arrange repayment.

The company said the process would begin once the final administrative steps are completed and that refunds are expected to be processed automatically, meaning customers should not need to submit claims.

The repayments may not be huge, but will come at a welcome time for many when living costs are still high

Although the average refund is relatively modest, the overall scale of the error has drawn attention because it stretches back more than a decade to 2013 and involves tens of thousands of accounts.

Consumer organisations have frequently warned about the risks of estimated billing, particularly when adjustments are made months or years later.

For many households, the repayments will come as welcome relief at a time when living costs remain high.

Emasa said it is now reviewing procedures to prevent similar problems in future and to ensure billing systems correctly reflect actual water usage. Customers seeking further information can contact the company through its usual customer service channels once repayments officially begin.