Background

The purpose of this Bill is to amend various laws relating to the diverse communications sectors regulated by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) in part to update the law to reflect current realties and in part to facilitate the implementation of measures in line with European Union (EU) legislation. The laws which the Bill proposes to amend are: 

- The Postal Services Act - Cap. 254 

- The Postal Services (General) Regulations – S.L. 254.01

- The Electronic Communications (Regulation) Act – Cap. 399

- The Radiocommunications (Punishments and Voluntary Settlement of Disputes Procedures) Regulations – S.L. 399.37

- The Malta Communications Authority Act – Cap. 418 

- The Electronic Commerce Act – Cap. 426 

Postal Services Act (Cap. 254) and the Postal Services (General) Regulations (S.L. 254.01): The MCA has in recent months conducted a review of Cap. 254 and of S.L. 254.01 identifying norms which need to be amended, deleted or added. Changes are therefore being proposed to do away with certain terms which are no longer applicable, update the sanctions regime and review norms which do not reflect existing practices. 

Electronic Communications (Regulation) Act (Cap. 399): Part IV of Cap. 399 regulates the use of radiocommunications apparatus. Measures are being proposed whereby regulations can be made by the Minister responsible for communications to enable the MCA to have more flexible tools to prohibit the possession or use of apparatus which may be of harm or of detriment to the general public. 

Radiocommunications (Punishments and Voluntary Settlement of Disputes Procedures) Regulations (S.L. 399.37): the current fines (multi) are being revised upwards (they were last marginally revised in 2014). The possibility of a voluntary settlement for a subsequent breach is being included provided a higher fine is paid. 

Malta Communications Authority Act (Cap. 418): unless stated otherwise at law, the enforcement norms provided for under Cap. 418 apply to all the laws that the MCA enforces. Changes are being proposed to update certain enforcement tools in place and to facilitate the making of subsidiary legislation only in the English language where the legislation consists of technical terms not generally used in the Maltese language. An amendment is being proposed whereby appeals from final decisions of the Administrative Review Tribunal may be made to the Court of Appeal (Inferior) on points of law only in line with the norms applicable in relation to other sectors. 

Electronic Commerce Act (Cap. 426): Cap. 426 currently reflects two EU laws namely: 

- Directive 2000/31/EC on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the internal market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’); and 

- Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC^[1] (‘the eIDAS 2014 Regulation). 

In 2016 amendments were enacted to Cap. 426 to implement the eIDAS Regulation 2014. In 2024 the EU enacted Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 which amended the eIDAS 2014 Regulation. This new EU Regulation in turn necessitates amending the eCommerce Act which amendments are being factored in the proposed Bill in order to include references to the nomenclature of the EU Regulation as updated. The legislation to effectively implement Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 will be submitted at a later stage. 

Document

https://economy.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/public-consultation-version-of-Bill-March-2026-with-notes-1.pdf