Late payment charge

I have just received my telephone bill from Maltacom. Nothing extraordinary, but a closer look revealed a "late payment charge".

Fair enough, you might say, and so did I. What I found unfair was that Lm1 was charged on Lm5.57, being the rental charge. This gives Maltacom a 17.6 per cent increase in income on the bill or 11 per cent on the total bill (including consumption).

How did Maltacom arrive at this figure? It must have been given the blessing of the Malta Communications Authority. What was the basis for having such charges approved and imposed before the onset of competition? Is this an indication of Maltacom's attitude towards its customers? I sincerely hope not. After all, Maltacom had been funded by the taxpayer.

Another consideration is that no VAT is being charged on the late payment charge. Does this mean it is not a service charge or would it be classified as "interest on overdue accounts"? I know interest rates have been raised recently but not to those levels!