Easygas 'to defy' order for return of cylinders
Easygas is to defy a resources authority order to return a hoard of nearly 2,000 gas cylinders to rival company Liquigas and is planning to take the matter to the constitutional court.
Easygas claims the MRA acted beyond its powers and breached its right to a fair hearing when it imposed a unilateral order to return cylinders to its rival, Liquigas.
The Malta Resources Authority should stop threatening Easygas with a €25,000 fine if it does not give back the cylinders and instead respect the basic rules of natural justice by allowing it to defend its position, company lawyer Georg Sapiano told The Times yesterday.
"The MRA is bound, like everybody else, with the obligation to respect the rules of natural justice and should have at least granted Easygas a hearing before proceeding with this heavy-handed manner my clients will defy. This matter will end up in the constitutional court," he said.
Dr Sapiano complained that the authority had not bothered waiting for the outcome of a pending civil court case to determine ownership of the cylinders in its possession but instead " slapped Easygas" with a threat of an administrative fine. In a judicial letter filed by the MRA last week, Easygas was warned of a € 25,000 fine if it failed to return 1,937 cylinders belonging to Liquigas, plus a daily €600 fine until it complied.
The ultimatum, which passed yesterday, was given in an official letter filed in the civil court, after Easygas had rejected an initial request to return the cylinders.
Liquigas claims Easygas has a hoard of more than 6,000 of its cylinders in its compound but MRA inspectors only found 1,937.
Easygas has replied to the MRA letter, explaining why it believed the decision to order it to return the cylinders was beyond the MRA's powers as it was taken without giving it the opportunity to reply to the allegations. It said it had not been given a fair hearing, in breach of its fundamental human rights.
The Times has learnt that Easygas had appealed the decision and the appeal is now before the MRA's appeals board.
The problem has its origins in January when Easygas entered the market and started to accept empty yellow, green and brown Liquigas cylinders in exchange for its new grey ones.
"In so doing, Easygas showed its sensitivity towards the concerns as well as the rights of consumers. Whereas Liquigas offered a paltry €5, Easygas recognised that unless otherwise declared by a court, the owner of the cylinder was the person possessing it. That person was respected and given fair compensation by Easygas because the law assumes that you are the owner of a cylinder if you hold it in your possession," he said.
Dr Sapiano also questioned the truth of Liquigas's claim that it could not operate because of the 1,937 cylinders Easygas had in its possession. He said that when Liquigas began operating in 2008, its balance sheet attributed € 14 million to cylinder stock.
"This translates into 600,000 cylinders so how can it be that less than 2,000 cylinders are blocking the supply of the service?" he asked.
MRA ordered Easygas to return the cylinders to its competitor with immediate effect but Dr Sapiano strongly feels that this was " arrogance and abusive administrative action reminiscent of other governments... not this one".
When contacted, a spokesman for the MRA said the authority had no further comments to make on the matter.
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Mr Joseph Calleja
May 19th 2011, 15:18
No wonder we need lawyers? I am no lawyer neither a judge, but I was always on the impression that if you have something that belongs to me it should be returned to me. Lawyers, a necessary evil at best. The more the contradiction, the more the lawyer makes?
"
Pierre Farrugia
May 19th 2011, 15:18
I can't understand how can MRA decide that if i do not show the reciept that I purchase a cylinder to liquid gas than i can't get back my refund of €25 (could be 15 years ago) but than say that the cylinders are of the poperty of liquid gas and Easy gas should return them back. I ask, does Liquid gas has something in writing and signed by the customer that the cylinder is of Liquid gas property or any contract with terms and conditions ???? the law is the same for everyone as far as I know......
Mr Paul Caruana
May 19th 2011, 13:29
Only in Malta......
Mr Michael Buhagiar
May 19th 2011, 10:07
Off course MRA has nothing to comment on this matter. It knows that it is acting abusively and arrogantly against the competitor of Liquigas. This is shameful.
Steve Mifsud
May 19th 2011, 09:45
Good for you Easygas........keep it up!
Christian Sciberras
May 19th 2011, 09:33
Well done! This ought to give those monopolies a lesson!
Mr Mario P. Sciberras
May 19th 2011, 09:27
I dont know the background to this saga, but easy gas seems to me to be a bit "cow-boyish" in this matter.
Victor Vella
May 19th 2011, 09:15
That person was respected and given fair compensation by Easygas because the law assumes that you are the owner of a cylinder if you hold it in your possession," Dr Sapiano said.
While standing to be corrected, I feel that the learned Doctor of Law is not correct, You are not asked for a price for the cylinder or a fee for purchase of same, you are asked for a deposit, so much so that it is illegal to use the cylinder for any other reason except for LPG, I remember back when some enterprising people used to build compressors with the cylinders and or re fill them with acitylene, there were others who used them as buoy to mark the moorings of thier boats.This was shown to be illegal and we got slapped with a 50 cents deposit on these cylinders, which gradually kept rising.Then the theft of cylinders became rampant,and to hand in your cylinder to re coup your deposit you needed the reciept.Now tell me is it fair that I who paid 50 old cents for the cylinderEuro 1.16, now go and claim 25 euros for the same deposit?This is industrial sabotage by easygas , and I believe that MRA should hand over the case to the police for criminal proceedings.The same should apply to Liquigas, for interruping distribution on false pretences.Come on Malta let us not let these companies take us for a ride.Is the LPG mixture being checked by the MRA?or are we getting inferior products ?Are spot checks being carried out to check the weight of the cylinders?If as Dr Sapiano stated they have 600,000 cylinders in circulation and we roughly estimate that these are filled once a month and they cheat just 1/2 a litre of gas from each cylinder that makes a whooping 162 metric tonnes of gas , am I right?
Mr Paul Barrett
May 19th 2011, 11:42
In your calculation regarding the deposit, you failed to take into consideration inflation; that the sum of money you paid many years ago was actually worth in comparative value an awful lot more than a straight conversion. It was not all that long ago when you could feed two quite happily on five pounds a week and still have money left at the end of the month for entertainment.
Apart from that, Liquigas has had the use of this deposit money for many years either as a liquid asset or gaining interest that belongs to the customer in exchange for the empty cylinder.
In summary: Liquigas have set a current market price deposit value of Euro 25.00 for an empty cylinder and that is what they should pay the customer for the return of an empty cylinder.
Mr Tony Camilleri
May 19th 2011, 09:11
When customers paid their deposit for the gas cylinder the gas cylinder became theirs and they can do whatever they please with it. If Liquigas wants them back pay the customers what they paid for the cylinders and not the miserly €5 that you have offered them and don't expect that customers keep the receipt for years on end.
Mr Daniel Jones
May 19th 2011, 09:10
Well done Easygas. Keep it up. You are surely winning customers. I for one will be coming to you when my gas runs out.
Mr Eric Psaila
May 19th 2011, 08:58
Georg you summed it all up in your statement:
" arrogance and abusive administrative action reminiscent of other governments... not this one".
That is why I will be voting labour next time around.
Arrogance has become synonymous to Gonzipn.
One suggestion Georg switch side like I did.
To easygas. Keep it up. As EFA used to say is-sewwa jerbah u jerbah sgur.
I have already bought two cylinders from Easygas and saved some money which is a great and for this I would like to thank easygas.
Mr Paul Barrett
May 19th 2011, 08:55
Well done Easygas and the best of luck.
Mathematically 14 Million actually equates to 560,000 cylinders @ Euro 25.00 each. It would be interesting to know the stock numbers and value claimed at the last audit.
Please choose the reason of your report below: