An ongoing dispute between film distributors KRS and Eden Cinemas has escalated after KRS filed a complaint with the competition authority accusing Eden of abusing its dominant position in the market to the detriment of consumers.

The complaint comes a month after Eden filed a similar complaint against KRS, accusing the distributors of behaving like a “cartel” over a dispute concerning a rise in charges which has seen cinema prices go up across the island.

KRS manages the local rights of most major film studios, and charges cinemas a percentage of box office takings for each film shown.

The company also maintains a degree of control over release dates and the number of days films are shown in cinemas.

Previously, KRS had fixed charges for all films, but the company changed its pricing structure late last year, increasing the charges for certain films and lowering them for others, prompting cinemas to raise their own prices to compensate.

However, in a statement explaining the complaint filed against Eden, KRS claimed that Eden increased its prices even when no increases were made by KRS and that prices were not decreased by Eden when KRS reduced its percentage charge. The distributors also claimed Eden increased its prices on products not supplied by KRS.

“KRS does not, directly or indirectly, establish the admission prices,” the distributor said.

In response to questions sent by this newspaper, KRS’s legal representatives said it would not be prudent to comment further on the complaint at this stage.

When contacted, Eden Leisure director Simon Decesare described the claims as “laughable”.

“We have 13 screens out of about 34 in Malta and are in no position at all to act in an anti-competitive way,” he said. “The inference from KRS – that we should charge our customers different prices for each film based on the charges set by KRS – is neither reasonable nor practical.”

Mr Decesare said Eden had calculated the net increase in charges and raised prices to compensate. He insisted that Eden was not profiting from the increased prices (which have been mirrored to differing degrees by other cinemas).

“We had to increase admission prices to recoup the losses we would have sustained,” he said. “It is worth noting that we have not increased our prices since 2010.”

Mr Decesare also flatly denied that Eden had raised prices on non-KRS releases – which Eden markets under the brand Side Street Films – which he said had remained at the same price despite the increases elsewhere.