Seven months after a landmark court judgment which barred the competition watchdog from imposing fines, the government has yet to take remedial action, prompting criticism from the Consumers’ Association.

In a judgment last May, the Constitutional Court ruled in a case by the Federation of Estate Agents against the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority that the Director for Competition could not impose fines. Only a proper court was vested with such powers as it could guarantee a fair hearing, it said.

Moreover, the court had declared unconstitutional a number of Competition Act provisions regulating cases of infringements and the imposition of administrative fines by the regulator. This meant that some aspects of the law had to be amended and, in addition, the regulator’s powers to enforce its own decisions had been restricted.

This state of affairs was brought to the fore in a case involving a fuel supplier who, last October, was found to have pressured a petrol station owner to reverse a diesel price cut.

Despite declaring such conduct in breach of competition regulations, the watchdog was not in a position to fine the supplier who had subsequently challenged the decision in court.

The issue has been dragging on for months

Back then, a Consumer Affairs Ministry spokesman had told this newspaper the amendments to the law would also involve constitutional changes. Consequently, he added, the government was waiting for the Opposition’s feedback since the changes to the Constitution required a two-thirds parliamentary majority to be approved.

Sources said the Opposition had, in turn, requested a reasoned opinion from the ministry on the need to also amend the Constitution rather than just the Competition Act.

The urgency to close this loophole, observers noted, also stemmed from the fact that the competition watchdog would not be able to enforce decisions retroactively once the changes to the law would come into force. Consequently, any other breaches the regulator flagged during this state of ‘limbo’ would probably remain unpunished.

Worried with the prevailing state of affairs and the time it was taking to take the necessary remedial action, the Consumers’ Association last week urged the government to take “adequate measures” to resolve what it described as an “unacceptable” situation. The issue, which was crucial to safeguard consumer rights, had been dragging on for months, it pointed out.

Questions sent by Times of Malta to the Consumer Affairs Ministry remained unanswered at the time of writing despite several reminders.