A driver has been fined by Transport Malta for parking his electric car in a spot reserved for the charging of e-vehicles, despite it being plugged in when the officer approached him.

The driver, Nuno Fernandes, said his car was parked in one of the charging bays along Triq il-Marfa, in Mellieħa when a Transport Malta officer issued a fine for “parking on e-charge, not charging [sic]”.

Documents from the company that operates the charging point and seen by Times of Malta confirm Fernandes’s car was parked in the bay between 9.37am and 1.29pm. 

The fine issued to Nuno Fernandes.

The fine was handed out at 11.03am.

“I don’t understand how the TM officer can claim that at 11.03am I was not charging the car…the charging cable is yellow, so it is really visible,” Fernandes said.

Fernandes has now formally complained to Transport Malta, requesting that the fine is dropped.

“Why is the officer fining people for situations which did not occur? What’s the end goal here? Hoping that we don’t contest,” the driver asked the agency in his complaint.

“Can it be that the officer is so bad at his work that he didn’t notice the cable plugged to the car? If he noticed and still decided to fine, then it is even worse.”

The driver also highlighted what he said is a common problem with charging bays, where, despite there being two plugs, only one car can be charged as simultaneous charging is not always possible.

Fernandes said there have been instances when he has parked his car in one of the bays while waiting for another vehicle to finish charging.

“In those instances, I waited (car plugged) and every 15 to 30 minutes I tried to initiate the charge via the app. How would the officer behave in that case,” the driver said.

When contacted, a Transport Malta spokesperson said the officer noticed that although the car was connected to the charging pillar, the screen of the car itself was not switched on.

"This contravention will be revoked. Transport Malta apologises for the inconvenience caused. In such instances and if there is a valid reason why such contraventions given mistakenly had been issued it is rightly so as in this case that the contravention will be revoked," he said. 

In recent years, as part of efforts to promote greener modes of transport, a number of parking bays have been reserved for e-vehicles and equipped with charging points.