Malta: Gas station owners receive €242,000 compensation
Owners of a gas station in Malta, which had been banned from allowing customers to pay at the counter if they had automatic pumps, have been handed €242,000 in damages for loss of sales.
According to the owners Hompesch Petrol Station of Zabbar, energy company Enemalta forced the previous owners to install fully-automatic pumps, which proved to be less popular among drivers in Malta.
During the first years the owners allowed customers to fill-up and pay at the counter, which saw their sales increase significantly. However, Enemalta started to counter such actions by threatening operators with lower commissions or having fewer opening hours, reported Malta Today.
According to the former owners of the station, the introduction of automatic pumps resulted in a decrease in sales of 1,955 litres of fuel per day, which translated into €32,700 per year. Hence they said that over a seven-year period they had suffered €242,000 in lost sales.
Now the court has ordered Enemalta, the Malta Resources Authority, the Energy Ministry and the GRTU to pay the owners €242,000 in damages.
