Requests for VTC licences in Malaga rocket since EU court rejected Spain's cap on services such as Uber, Cabify and Bolt

The Junta de Andalucía has received almost 3,000 applications from operators in the province since the European court ruling opened the floodgates

Francisco Jiménez

Malaga

Tuesday, 18 July 2023, 17:18

Malaga province is being inundated with registration applications for private hire vehicles with drivers, known as VTCs, from operators such as Uber, Cabify and Bolt.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) opened the floodgates for the applications to pour in after - on 8 June - it overturned the measure in force across Spain to protect taxis from competition from VTCs, which established a limit of one for every 30 taxis.

As of Monday 17 July, there are 2,468 authorisations in force in Malaga, compared to 2,740 cabs, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport. But this figure could be blown out of the water after the Junta de Andalucía received 2,830 applications for VTC licences for the province of Malaga in the past month, since the new court ruling.

In order to submit the application, the individual must provide proof of a licence plate and pay the administrative fee, which is 26.83 euros. From there, a maximum term of five months for the completion of the request starts, taking into account that the administrative silence would indicate that the application has been successful.

The Department of Public Works said that despite the "significant volume", it does not affect the current situation as "none of the applications submitted have been authorised". But even if they are refused, recent history shows that the applications are still eventually authorised, through the courts.

Protect taxis

Even though the regional administration has not been granting new VTC licences since 2015 on the grounds that that the 1/30 ratio is more than exceeded in Malaga, a continuous trickle of appeals have made their way through the courts.

"Right now they are not being authorised, but as soon as the refusals arrive, they may end up in court," said José Luis Ortega, lawyer at the specialised transport consultancy Mobility Think Tank and the professional who, representing the VTC sector, participated in the legal proceedings in Luxembourg that led to the recent European ruling. If these authorisations are granted, there would be more than 5,000 VTC permits active in the province.

In an attempt to protect taxis and prevent an avalanche of VTCs Spain's central government implemented a regulation which establishes that a VTC permit application can be denied on the grounds of CO2 emission reduction criteria or transport, traffic or public space management.

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