A local company advertising car rentals for as little as 20c a day has raised suspicion as former clients slam the business for allegedly deceptive business practices.

Smart Car Rentals Malta is advertising rental car prices that are far below typical market rates. However, former customers who left reviews online suggest that the company has a less than stellar reputation, with many claiming it withheld hefty sums in deposits over damage to the cars they were not responsible for, such as scratches.

Clients claimed they were forced to pay for new batteries when the car failed to start and others complained they were intimidated into trying to pay for wear-and-tear issues such as clutch damage after only driving the car for a short time.

Drivers said that despite paying an established price online, they were faced with unexpected additional charges when picking up the car in person.

Some also alleged that Smart Car Rentals kept making fictitious charges to their cards well after they had used the service, forcing them to take up the issue with their respective banks.

The company has a rating of 2.2 on Google Reviews with 512 reviews, the majority being of a negative experience with the service.

Looking at the company’s price offering on its website, Smart Car Rentals offers a budget option car, a Peugeot 108 or Citroen C1 in manual transition, for as little as €1.43 a week in December.

However, looking at similar vehicles on offer from other car rental agencies during the same period shows that these prices are far below the norm.

Avis and Sixt, for example, had a manual Peugeot 108 available for the same dates starting at €58.57 and €43.43 per day respectively. Meanwhile, Europcar offered a manual Citroen C1 for €21.25 per day for that same week.

Smart Car Rentals also offered other vehicles available during that week that cost less than €1 a day to rent, including a Peugeot 208 or Citroen C3 starting from 27c per day, a Ford Fiesta for 42c per day and a Chevy Spark for 58c per day.

There is a limit to how much you can lower the price

Smart Car Rentals has since updated its prices, with a basic package for a Citroen C1 or a Peugeot 108 going for €11.12 a day in January, with prices for the rest of their offering similarly being revised upwards.

Additionally, while each car rental company offers three price points which explain the different excess coverage for collision damage and theft for the vehicle, Smart Car Rentals does not provide this information before a car is booked online.

Before proceeding to the payment portal, Smart Car Rentals requires customers to agree to terms and conditions. This also does not contain information about excess cover but lists general information for renters and mentions fees for senior and young drivers.

A service agent for the company contacted over the phone was also unable to provide this information.

Sources in the car rental industry told Times of Malta that while it is normal for car rental companies to lower prices during the winter season when demand is lower, renting vehicles for less than €1 a day simply cannot be sustained.

“In winter, we do put prices down, but with the cost of things like maintenance, car insurance and salaries shooting up dramatically, there is a limit to how much you can lower the price,” one operator said.

“I find it very difficult to believe that you can maintain these prices without something suspect going on. Unfortunately, it harms not only the industry’s reputation but also Malta’s because the majority of the service users tend to be tourists.”

Malta Business Registry records state that Smart Car Rentals is owned by Emanuel and Gerald Camilleri.

When contacted, Emanuel Camilleri said he did not own the company while denying the claims made in online reviews. Questions sent in writing to Smart Car Rentals were not replied to.