Supporting docs for residency query!

I agree - did you report it to their supervisors Red ?

I will be writing to Arriva tomorrow.

redmik wrote:

I will be writing to Arriva tomorrow.

well done :-)

Arriva Malta, or the parent company (or both ?)

I JUST WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD ACTUALLY REPORT IT

or is it just one of those things that over time becomes an accepted part of life here... can you imagine what it must feel like to have to put up with that every day - and nobody in authority are likely to believe you (the victim)

Just written to Arriva Malta and Head office in UK.

Arriva UK is owned by Deutsche Bahn, which is owned by the German State - so Merkel is top dog :-)

Oh well, I have experienced something even more disgusting. I took the bus 54 towards Valleta and just because a black boy (maybe Somalian) was listening to music on his mobile phone, the bus driver stopped the bus and told the boy to turn off the music. As boy knew he was doing nothing wrong, he decided not to turn it off. The bus driver decided not to carry on until he would turn off his device. In the end, everyone got really upset with the bus driver and left the bus to wait for another one.

Now I ask, if it was a Maltese person, would he act on the same way?
Easy question once again.

this has to stop - its just not acceptable - Antonio have you reported this one too....

georgeingozo wrote:

Arriva UK is owned by Deutsche Bahn, which is owned by the German State - so Merkel is top dog :-)

Yes, but according to my research the head office is in the UK.
(Tax purposes?)

If I am wrong please give me a link.

mantonas wrote:

Oh well, I have experienced something even more disgusting. I took the bus 54 towards Valleta and just because a black boy (maybe Somalian) was listening to music on his mobile phone, the bus driver stopped the bus and told the boy to turn off the music. As boy knew he was doing nothing wrong, he decided not to turn it off. The bus driver decided not to carry on until he would turn off his device. In the end, everyone got really upset with the bus driver and left the bus to wait for another one.

Now I ask, if it was a Maltese person, would he act on the same way?
Easy question once again.

A nice bit of solidarity there by the passengers.
Have you reported it?

Response from Arriva Malta. Read into it what you like

Thank you for your email.
We have taken note of your comment and it shall be passed on to our department concerned and once internal protocols are completed, we will apply corrective measures in accordance with Arriva Company guidelines proportionate with the seriousness of your report.
Thank you once again for your feedback.
Kind Regards,

toonarmy9752 wrote:

this has to stop - its just not acceptable - Antonio have you reported this one too....

Unfortunately I didn't toon, coz I didn't even thought about that. But it's never too late and I am sure I am still on time to do it.

absolutely Antonio - do it man it needs more people like you and red to do so - as i would as and when i witness it. and as is evident by the reply above - i doubt they take it serious until such time there is a glut of complaints

A lot of conclusions and good intentions mixed here. 1. The rule applies to all folk and I am pleased to see it applied. 2. I have personally requested Italians and Maltese travellers to either use a headset or to turn the music off as it is not everyone who wants to share thier experience and I had no refusals to concur to date. 3.Malta is not a colony of the rest of europe and should be respected by guests whosoever they are.

Hi sjan,

I respect your opinion but: 1. You were not present when that incident happened, therefore, you cannot make a judgment. 2. The music the guy was listening, was not even loud, I could not hear it from the back seat. 3. One think is asking politely and the other is demanding and saying that the bus wouldn't leave until the guy's mobile phone was switched off.

When I saw the driver on his phone and having a go with that boy, my first thought was, he did not have a ticket. No wonder all the passengers were pist off with the bus driver and all decided to leave.

fair play to the passengers -  and i hope every one of them put in a formal complaint.

@ sjan - it seems those same rules dont apply to drivers using  mobiles phones when driving (a much more relevant and extremely dangerous situation). It costs nothing to be polite, clearly the passengers who are likely to have been predominantly malti saw the injustice and joined forces.... good on yer.

am sorry to say our hosts dont respect their own country never mind asking the dreaded "foreigner" to do it.

sjan wrote:

3.Malta is not a colony of the rest of europe and should be respected by guests whosoever they are.

Jeesh!!!           Whoever stated it was a colony?

And what has that got to do with anything?

Is Africa in Europe?

And who is drawing the conclusions?

I will also add that in both incidents nothing wrong was being done.

From the European Commission, Directorate General for Mobility and Transport Unit D4 - Passenger rights -Tuesday, 16th April, 2013:

Re: 1) Non-Maltese public bus passengers subjected to systemic institutional discrimination on the basis of their race, colour, ethnic origin or language in the implementation of the two-tier bus fare scheme.

Dear Mr Jones-Dillon,

Further to your e-mail of 22 March 2013, we would like provide you with the following elements of reply.

We would firstly like to reiterate that the Commission has raised the issue of possible discrimination of non-resident Union nationals in sales of tickets by Arriva Ltd based on race, colour, ethnic origin and language in the framework of our inquiry on the compatibility of the Maltese bus fare scheme with Union law.

In its reply of 19 December 2012, the Maltese Government made it clear that Transport Malta, the national transport regulator, will step up its enforcement to ensure that the Bus Transport Operator strictly adheres to the contract conditions whereby the sole requirement for anyone wanting to avail themselves of the discounted fares is the presentation of a valid Maltese identity card or accepted proof of residence in Malta.

Transport Malta has written formally to the Bus Transport Operator explaining the issues raised by the Commission on this matter, and has requested unambiguously that any such deficiencies be immediately rectified. The Maltese Government promised to monitor the situation closely.

We consider therefore that the Maltese Government has taken the necessary legal steps to put an end to the situation that you describe.

If Arriva Malta Ltd behaves nevertheless as a matter of fact in a discriminatory manner, it is our position at this stage that Transport Malta, the regulatory authority that is supervising the operation of the Maltese public bus system, is better placed to investigate cases of alleged discrimination based on race, colour, ethnic origin or language with regard to bus fares and to seek solutions to individual cases as compared to the Commission services.

We would like to stress that the Commission is not in a position to provide you with any individual redress. In order to settle your individual dispute with the Maltese authorities and Arriva Malta Ltd regarding the problems of the application of the bus fare scheme in a discriminatory manner, you may submit an action to a Maltese Court that as a Union court is obliged to apply EU law directly.

In addition we would be ready to draw the attention of Transport Malta to the issue that you raise by describing your own case.  Please let us know in this respect whether you allow us to disclose your identity to the Maltese authorities in relation to such a communication. Please also provide us with a detailed description of the behaviour you have been confronted with on behalf of Arriva Malta Ltd and the questions you have already posed to Transport Malta.

As regards other issues that you have described in your e-mail, we would like to point out that they are covered by the infringement case that the Commission has initiated against Malta concerning possible discrimination of non-resident Union citizens in Maltese bus transport with regard to bus fares as compared to Maltese residents.

Yours sincerely,

Head of Unit

Letter ends:

Anybody on the forum who wishes to submit their observations to the specific investigating officers of the European Commission (and European Parliament) may contact me by e-mail (via the expat-blog) to obtain their contact details.

Hi Byron,

it is quite an old response dating from April.

So , bottom line, the EU commission considers the case closed !

We consider therefore that the Maltese Government has taken the necessary legal steps to put an end to the situation that you describe.

If you are not of that opinion you can take an individual case against TM to a Maltese court and hope for the best.

What kind of observations on Arriva buses are you referring too ?

The main issue at the moment are bbb's ( burning bendy buses).

Cheers
Ricky

We politely asked two teenage Maltese boys to turn down their music (on whatever it was that they were using) and they promptly turned it up as loudly as possible until we reached Valletta. The rest of the passengers kept their heads down - perhaps scared of the Maltese youth of today, which we hear repeatedly from Maltese adults are becoming increasingly disrespectful. The bus driver didn't get involved either - perhaps they prefer to pick on on youngsters that find it difficult to defend themselves, like the chap that Mantonas witnessed....

Err, this isn't about the two tier charging, it's about the discrimination of Black Africans, witnessed by some of us!!
See https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 31#1459076 and previous posts on this thread, which went off topic, which is why I started the other thread.

Double post.

redmik wrote:

I will not await a response with baited breath, I'll go blue and pass out before that happens I think.

if you want things done in Malta now, you have to remain red, not turn blue

Hi red,

exactly , I think the problem with Byron is that he is the master of 'cut and paste' and doesn't really follow the specific issues in posts on the blog.

Anything that seems related to Expat,Arriva,residence card, ARM's and a few other issues immediatly raises a flag signed 'petition'.

I would be really glad to see an individual post by our friend Byron and not just 'cut and paste'.

And , he still hasn't answered my pending question whether he has applied for the new residence card .

Cheers
Ricky

georgeingozo wrote:

redmik wrote:

I will not await a response with baited breath, I'll go blue and pass out before that happens I think.

if you want things done in Malta now, you have to remain red, not turn blue