Tourist boat operators are being made to pay “tens of thousands of euro” in licence fees despite there being no tourists to fill boats with, the Chamber of SMEs said on Tuesday.

The Chamber noted that operators had been as hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as any other sector which relied on tourism for income.

But while the Malta Tourism Authority has waived licence fees for entities that fall under its remit, Transport Malta has not done likewise.

Operators’ pleas to reduce or waive fees were being ignored, it said, with the regulator even levying penalties for late payments of fees.

This was a “very unfair and discriminatory approach” by the government, it said, as treatment varied depending on which entity was responsible for regulation.

“While on the one hand they have been given some basic help that is passed on immediately to their employees in the form of the wage supplement, the government ends up taking much more from them by still asking them to pay tens of thousands of euros in licensing to Transport Malta to operate,” it said.

The issue has now been raised with the Prime Minister as well as the Transport Minister. The Chamber said would not “exclude taking further action to safeguard the survival of its members should this situation not improve”.

It did not say what this action might be. 

“The Malta Chamber of SMEs is making it clear that the government's requirements for payments, which are ill-fitting during COVID times, are threatening their [the operators’] survival.”