The Maltese consortium that lost a bid to operate public transport services to a Spanish company has taken court action after it discovered that the conditions being discussed between the government and the Spanish operator are different to those listed in the call for tenders for the service, The Malta Independent has learnt.

Two meetings with representatives of Autobuses de Leon, which Transport Minister Joe Mizzi had said will be taking over the public transport service as from January, have not led to any conclusion. Meetings were held on Sunday and earlier today, in the hope that an accord would have been reached in time to be announced in the budget speech tonight, but they did not bear fruit.

Sources told The Malta Independent that the government has been forced to make more and more concessions to the Spanish company, and as TMID reported in the past, the subsidy will be amounting to more than €23 million for the first year. The Malta Independent is informed that Autobuses de Leon has made a condition that subsidies are to be revised after the first year of operation.

It is understood that what led the Maltese consortium, Island Buses Malta, to take legal against were changes to the criteria established in the tender documents.

Failure to reach agreement is adding more pressure on Transport Minister Joe Mizzi. The Malta Independent two weeks ago reported that Mr Mizzi is likely to lose his place if the Prime Minister carries out a Cabinet reshuffle.