MVRLA’s Concerns Over Vehicle Lease Tender Criteria

The Malta Vehicle Rental and Lease Association (MVRLA) today raised serious concerns over Tender CT2000/2025, covering the lease of 62 plug-in hybrid vehicles for members of the judiciary.

Despite several bids, from qualified and experienced bidders with decades of experience under their belts, being submitted at significantly lower prices, the award has been recommended to the highest bidder, at €5,996,950 excluding VAT. This outcome followed the introduction of a restrictive and disproportionate eligibility clause requiring bidders to prove at least €1,000,000 in annual revenues under one single contract for two consecutive years.

MVRLA notes that this single-contract requirement – retained after the first call was cancelled and re-issued – effectively excluded established Maltese operators with diversified client bases and substantial aggregated revenues, while favouring a bidder able to evidence such turnover under one contract.

To provide context, a €1,000,000 annual turnover requirement tied to a single contract is disproportionate in the Maltese market. Assuming a representative monthly rental value of €500 per vehicle, a single contract generating €1,000,000 a year would imply roughly 167 vehicles under that contract (calculation: €1,000,000 ÷ (€500 × 12) ≈ 166.7). For Malta’s economies of scale this is practically unattainable as a single contract. In fact, leading local operators do achieve similar or even greater annual revenues by managing fleets of several hundred vehicles across multiple client contracts. In short, competent operators with multi-contract revenues in the millions were excluded because they did not hold one single €1,000,000 contract.

The Association believes this raises fundamental questions of proportionality and transparency. Under European Union Directive 2014/24/EU, contracting authorities must ensure selection criteria are relevant and proportionate to the subject matter of the contract, and that equal treatment and fair competition are maintained.

An MVRLA spokesperson said:
“This tender has been structured in a way that has excluded experienced Maltese operators and restricted genuine competition. Our industry has both the fleet scale and the financial strength to supply these vehicles at far lower cost. By imposing an arbitrary single-contract revenue test, the process has tilted the field, resulting in the recommendation of the highest-priced bid. This outcome not only results in higher cost to the taxpayer but also raises concerns that, if unaddressed, could weaken public confidence in the fairness of procurement processes.”
 
The Association therefore calls for:
• An immediate independent review of Tender CT2000/2025;
• Suspension and reversal of the current award recommendation;
• Re-issuance of the tender under transparent, proportionate and EU-compliant conditions.
MVRLA stresses that these representations are non-partisan and made in defence of open competition, taxpayer value and the reputation of Malta’s highest institutions.
 
For more information about MVRLA, visit www.mvrla.org.mt.
 
Media Contact: Dr. Dustin Camilleri – General Secretary

Malta Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (MVRLA)

Tel: +356 2122 2912
Email: dustin@emaadvocates.com/mvrla@emaadvocates.com
Website: www.mvrla.org.mt​