A consortium of bus companies has complained in a judicial letter that  increased government subsidies for the operation of the free route bus service substantially altered the contract signed with the service provider in 2015 and a new call for tenders should therefore have been issued.

The Unscheduled Bus Service (UBS) had been one of the bidders when the 2015 call for tenders was issued. The contract was eventually awarded to Autobuses de León, a Spanish public transport company operating in Malta under the name Malta Public Transport.  

UBS is made up of several bus companies including Garden of Eden Garage, Koptaco, Supreme Travel, Robsons, Zarb Garage Paramount Garage and a number of individual operators.

It filed the judicial letter against Transport Malta, Malta Public Transport, the State Advocate, the European Commission representation office in Malta, the Malta Consumer and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), the finance minister, the Department of Contracts and Malta Public Transport (Operations) Limited. 

The government had pledged to make buses free during last year’s budget.

Malta is the second country in Europe, after Luxembourg, to do so.

All routes – standard, night and specialised – are now free of charge for residents, who must possess a Tallinja card to board without paying. 

The consortium said the increased subsidies to cover the free bus service amounted to state aid, in breach of competition rules. It also argued that the free service caused market disruption and held the authorities responsible for damages.

The judicial letter, filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, was signed by lawyers Mark Attard Montalto and Douglas Aquilina.