Malta's insurance lobby wants drivers who obtained their licence following political intervention to retake their driving test.
"Failure to do so will result in a serious drop in confidence in the validity of driving tests in Malta and a continuing unacceptable increase in risk to all road users of being involved in an accident caused by such drivers," Insurance Association of Malta director general Adrian Galea said.
The insurance lobby raised their road safety worries on Tuesday, two days after Times of Malta exposed a system whereby Transport Malta's former director of licencing would receive test candidates' details through WhatsApp messages.
Hundreds of candidates were fast-tracked and even given "help" to secure a driving license.
Chats show former Transport minister Ian Borg, his canvasser Jesmond Zammit, and his ministry personnel regularly pressured Transport Malta's director of licensing, Clint Mansueto, to "help" candidates at different stages of the licensing process.
Prime Minister Robert Abela has defended Borg and public officials who helped people obtain their licenses, saying they acted within the confines of the law.
"The way the minister acted is what is expected of any minister and secretariat," Abela said on Monday.
But insurers believe the chat conversations suggest something different.
Galea said that media reports have raised serious questions about the integrity of the driving test process and the safety of all road users.
"One of the main concerns of motor insurance companies is that unqualified drivers are more prone to cause accidents," Galea said.
"Some of these unqualified drivers may be driving taxis or heavy vehicles, which can potentially cause more serious accidents since they require a higher degree of driving skills to be handled," Galea said.
Insurers' pressure to review the licences of people who were flagged in WhatsApp conversations follows similar calls made on Tuesday by a group of doctors and Malta's leading employers' lobby, the MEA.
In a stinging statement, the Malta Employers Association described Abela's defence of the scandal as a "radical invitation to anarchy".
"Covering for such scandals under the pretext that this is the normal functioning of the political system is unacceptable and sends a dangerous message to all sectors of Maltese society," the Malta Employers' Association said.
"How can insurance companies assess risk in such circumstances?" the MEA asked.
Doctors for Road Safety also called for a review of impacted licences and said it was essential that the process of issuing a driving licence was done according to transparent objective and standardised criteria which can stand up to scrutiny.
The current transport minister, Aaron Farrugia, has so far not commented on the scandal save for saying that he now wants to "look to the future".