There’s an old saying that competition is good for business. Truer words were never spoken.

Malta’s Transport Ministry recently announced that the government has decided to liberalize the application process for operating hearses.

Just in the nick of time — licenses were so difficult to acquire that no new ones had been issued in 36 years. That left only 11 functioning hearse operators in the entire country.

Considering the country’s last census pegged the population at over 400,000, the “hearse cartel” could charge exorbitant prices for their funeral services.

According to the Ministry, Malta’s people had been “denied freedom of choice and the benefits of competition.”

Tags: Cartel, Funeral, Licenses, Living expenses, Malta