Non-resident bus passengers had to shell out €3.74 million more than Maltese residents would have to purchase bus tickets last year due to discriminatory tariffs that were only scrapped days ago, Transport Minister Joe Mizzi revealed in parliament.

In reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Censu Galea, Mr Mizzi said that the tickets purchased included 2-hour, 1-day and 7-day tickets, and amounted to 2,698,922 in total. The estimated additional cost to non-residents was €3,736,072.

The minister took the opportunity to criticise the previous government, insisting that for two years, it ignored warnings from the EU over the discriminatory tariffs, even though it faced fines. He added that the present government ensured that the Commission would not initiate legal proceedings against Malta when it put an end to non-resident rates this year, when it took over the public service from Arriva Malta.