Confirmed: Transport Malta changes law to accommodate Gozo operator

On the day of the legal cut-off date, when 15-year-old vehicles could no longer be used for rental purposes, the government, through Transport Malta, published a legal notice to postpone the date by a further four months until the end of the year.

The reason, according to investigations by The Shift, is that a well-connected Gozitan company – Gozo Pride Tours Ltd – failed to replace its fleet in time and sought more leeway to continue operating, despite being given ample time, since 2019, to do so.

The latest change – the third in a row over the past three years – has infuriated dozens of competing companies, which have spent millions over the same period to get their act together, update their old vehicles, and comply with the law.

They insisted that the owners of Gozo Pride Tours were not only given special treatment to keep them in business but were also allegedly informed about the change beforehand, to the extent that they continued to take bookings for their old cars (particularly Maruti four-wheel-drive vehicles) beyond the August 2025 cut-off date.

“This is unfair competition, to say the least, and probably much more than that,” one furious industry stakeholder told The Shift.

Last week, The Shift reported that Transport Malta was considering another change in the law to accommodate certain operators. On Friday, this was made official through a new legal notice.

The new changes, which will now permit Gozo Pride Tours to continue operating its old vehicles until the end of the year, were introduced by Transport Minister Chris Bonett and Transport Malta CEO Kurt Farrugia.

Both declined to reply to questions by The Shift.

Transport Malta officials, who spoke to The Shift on condition of anonymity, had informed this newsroom that Bonett and Farrugia were planning a change in the law to accommodate Gozo Pride Tours.

They insisted that senior officials were opposing these changes as they reflected poorly on the regulator. Their recommendations were ignored.

Research conducted by The Shift prior to the publication of the amendments in the laws confirmed what Transport Malta officials had stated.

Since Gozo Pride Tours’ online booking system continued to take orders beyond the cut-off date set out in the law, sources questioned whether insider information had occurred, indicating the potential leak of sensitive and confidential government information.

The owners of Gozo Pride Tours did not reply to questions sent by The Shift on why they continued to accept bookings.

The company is based in Xewkija and collaborates with numerous tour operators, particularly Destination Management Companies (DMCs), which facilitate international conferences in Malta.

It is owned by Daniela and Joseph Farrugia, from Sannat. The latter is also a government employee placed at the Fisheries Department in Gozo. He is also a frequent driver on the tours organised by his company.

According to its website, Gozo Pride Tours invested in a new fleet earlier this year to replace its old cars.

Transport Malta officials told The Shift that since the Farrugias did not address the change of their fleet in time, despite being advised about it in 2019, their new cars did not arrive within the set deadline.

So they piled pressure on Transport Malta and the Transport Ministry to make “a special arrangement for them,” discriminating against the other companies that had complied with the law.