Increases in the prices of school transport are being investigated by the Consumer Affairs Authority, after parents complained that the updated fees of one of the van companies made tax rebates irrelevant.

On Thursday, the Times of Malta reported that parents whose children attended independent or Church schools were having to pay an additional €70 per child.

The government introduced a tax credit of up to €150 in the 2014 Budget, depending on the number of children, in an attempt to encourage more parents to make use of the minibus services.

Those who complained about the increase said the initiative was rendered useless since they still had to pay more for the service.

Yesterday, Minister Evarist Bartolo took to Facebook to express concern about the spike in prices, saying that he had been ap-proached by parents who were disappointed that the government measure to promote the use of minibuses was being rendered useless.

A spokesman then confirmed that the ministry had reported the issue to the relevant authorities who would be looking into it.

“The ministry understands the complaints by parents who have raised the issue that savings which were meant to incentivise the use of school transport were being wiped out by price increases by the respective operators.”

The parents who complained claimed the price increases varied between €50 and €70 per child and questioned what could justify this, given the drop in fuel prices in recent months.

Reacting to the complaints, a spokesman for the company said that every service provider in-creased its tariffs from time to time in order to be able to meet its operational costs, and Coop Services Limited was no exception.

Students affected by the price increase attend the following schools: Chiswick House School, Sacred Heart School, St Augus-tine School, St Elias School, St Martin’s College, St Michael School and Foundation, The Archbishop’s Seminary School and Thi Lakin School.