The gas company Liquigas was yesterday vindicated by the Consumer and Competition Department, which ruled that its actions regarding gas deposits did not mean it was stifling competition.

Liquigas has refused to give full refunds to customers who return their gas cylinders without a receipt, causing market newcomer Easygas to cry foul since this made it more difficult for customers to switch suppliers.

Liquigas said it cannot refund the current deposit of €25 unless a receipt is produced, since the vast majority of cylinders were sold at a cheaper price.

An investigation by the consumer department said Liquigas was justified in using this procedure, adding that this policy was not introduced or was being used to kill competition in the door-to-door distribution of gas cylinders.

It found that the system of deposits and refunds has been in use since the 1970s when Enemalta was responsible for gas production and distribution.

Liquigas had conceded a refund of €5 to customers who did not have a receipt, something which the consumer department noted in its investigation.

The department said it would carry on with its investigation to examine the distribution process, as gas distributors have claimed Easygas breached their territorial rights by distributing gas cylinders from a fixed point.

Easygas, which is offering to replace consumers’ Liquigas cylinders with its own if they want to switch, said it was not in a position to react to the department’s ruling yesterday but is likely to do so today.

The company had maintained that since most customers did not retain their receipt and had to pay another €25 for new cylinders from Easygas, its competitive advantage of having slightly cheaper gas rates was being erased unfairly.

It had proposed a system by which each gas supplier could replace the cylinders belonging to the other and then exchange them, facilitating the switching process for customers without forcing them to pay a new deposit.

But the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprise – GRTU, which represents gas distributors, had sided with Liquigas, saying it was unfair for the company to have to fork out full refunds to customers who may have originally paid much less than €25 for their cylinders.