On the 20th of July 2011 Benny Borg Bonello as President of the Consumers Association and on behalf of a number of consumers filed a complaint to the Director General of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority in order to improve the bus service operated by Arriva, arguing inter alia that:
i) The service offered by the bus service company Arriva was far from the standard which was promised.
iii) Arriva’s actions amounted to an unfair commercial practice as dictated by Article 51 C of the Consumer Affairs Act (which implements into Maltese law Article 6 of Directive 2005/19) since it neglected to inform the consumers of certain conditions imposed on travelers.
The Director General refused to consider the complaints of the Association, arguing inter alia that the Transport Authority had competence to take cognizance of the claim rather than the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority.
The Association appealed to the Competition and Consumer Appeals Tribunal to determine whether there have been unfair commercial practices as explained in Articles 51B, 51C and 51D (which implement into Maltese Law Articles 6 to 9 of Directive 2005/29) as well as to decide whether the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority had the competence to take cognizance of their claim.