Company claims discrimination in legal notice

A company that imports and operates open top buses on scheduled routes has filed a constitutional application claiming that it has been discriminated against by the Malta Transport Authority(ADT).

The company told the court that in 1991 it had applied to import three open top buses after the ADT declared that it had no objection to the importation.

However, once the vehicles were in Malta, the Authority refused to licence them on the grounds that they exceeded the height limitation imposed by EU legislation.

The Spiteris had filed a constitutional application in 2004 claiming that they had been discriminated against and their claim was upheld by the First Hall of the Civil Court. The three open top buses were subsequently licensed.

In 2008 the company imported eight buses but was unable to license them due to the failure on the part of the DT to set an appointment for the vehicle inspections.

The company then filed judicial proceedings against the Authority, which proceedings were still pending before the courts.

However, earlier this year the government published a legal notice in terms of which the company was bound to pay €1,800 to import each vehicle.

The company claimed that it was being discriminated against because the conditions for open top buses were different from those of coaches which were used for the same line of business.

The court was requested to declare that the company had been discriminated against by the authorities and that the legal notice was discriminatory.