As a visitor to your lovely island I read with interest the letter by Daniel Grech, commercial director of Malta Public Transport (The Sunday Times of Malta, July 19).

All is not quite as Grech describes it. Yes, people from any part of the world can apply online for a card; however, when doing so they will receive a warning that they will be charged a minimum of €6 postage. The Tallinja card is a thin piece of plastic that would cost no more than 57 cents to post to any European country.

Yet again, Malta Public Transport is fleecing tourists. In addition there is no online mechanism to pay the unspecified sum for postage, so it is unclear how the prospective tourist would do so.

Mention Malta to anyone in the UK and one of the first things mentioned is the simple, inexpensive and uncomplicated bus system.  It seems a great shame that such a complicated system has been introduced when in many other parts of the world you simply buy a ticket from an endless supply of outlets without the need to prove your identity via your passport.

Clearly €6.50 per week was too cheap, but it will leave a bad taste with many tourists to know that this has now more than trebled in price. Further added insult will be when they discover that contrary to EU law, they are paying so much more than local people.

Or if they want to pay the same as the local population they must apply weeks in advance with a copy off their passport, pay at least €6 for something that costs 57 cents to post, and hope against hope that it actually turns up before they leave.

Could a simple thing conceivably have been made more difficult for visitors?