Updated 3pm

Around 500 Y-plate cabs have been taken off the road after inspectors found that addresses listed as public service garages were actually fields, stores and shops.

Multiple firms including WT Global and TXGO – two of the country’s largest fleet operators – have had their Y-plate licences suspended and cab-hailing apps like Bolt and eCabs have been instructed to remove any vehicles operated by offending firms from their platforms.

The licence suspensions follow weeks of inspections by Transport Malta officials and are part of a broader push by regulators to enforce rules within the sector. Over the past month, roughly 30% of the country’s Y-plate vehicles have been stripped of their licence to operate.

At the turn of the year, Transport Malta took 890 Y-plate cabs off the road after discovering they were not being parked in commercial garages. Now, it has removed a further 500 – and suspended fleet licences – after discovering many other vehicles which were ostensibly garaged, were not.

Fields listed as garages

Inspectors visited addresses listed by operators as public service garages for their vehicles. By law, Y-plate cabs must be stored in such garages when not in use.

But in many cases, the listed garages were red herrings. A ministry spokesperson told Times of Malta inspectors found some registered garages were actually inaccessible fields. Others were being used as storage spaces or shops. In one case, a 'public service garage' was actually a barbershop. 

"There were all sorts of discrepancies," an industry insider said. "In some cases, operators seemed to be using garage space for other things. In others, the listings were entirely fake." 

Sources said many of those public service garage permits were old and had never been returned to the Planning Authority when they ceased to operate as commercial garages.

When inspectors began clamping down some months ago, "there was a mad rush to secure these PSG permits and their owners were offered significant money to sell them," they said. 

Minister, regulator confirm suspensions 

Transport Minister Chris Bonett confirmed that around 500 Y-plate cabs were taken off the roads this week. 

"We know that cab-hailing services are popular, but we need to ensure things are done according to the law," the minister said in a video comment. He thanked Transport Malta officials for their work and pledged more enforcement in the coming weeks. 

A Transport Malta spokesperson said the regulator was "ensuring full compliance with the law."

"Following regular inspections, over 500 Y-plate vehicles were removed from operation due to non-compliance, including license suspensions. This reinforces our commitment to maintaining public safety and high standards across the sector," it said. 

WT Global confirms licence 'revoked'

A spokesperson for WT Global, the country’s largest fleet operator, confirmed that its cars were taken off the road.

The company said its licence was “abruptly revoked without prior notice” and that company vehicles were seized. It insisted that it had not broken any law and had been shut down “without any explanation”.

“The company has ensured full adherence to all guidelines set by the authorities,” a WT spokesperson said.

It said over 25 companies as well as their employees were now in jeopardy as a result of the “deeply flawed and chaotic approach to regulatory changes and sector management by the authorities.”

WT Global, which is led by Libyan entrepreneur Walid Ouhida, is Malta’s biggest player within the Y-plate and food courier sectors. A Malta Today investigation in 2024 revealed that the company saw its revenue grow by almost 500% between 2019 and 2020, as the Y-plate boom took off.

The company made headlines last August after Times of Malta published hidden camera footage of a company employee telling a prospective cab driver that the firm would list him as a minimum wage employee irrespective of his real monthly income.

WT Global had denied wrongdoing and said the person recorded in the footage “cannot be described as a company official.”

TXGO reacts

TXGO also confirmed that its licence had been suspended and said it had not been given enough time to fix outstanding issues.   

Company CEO Mohaned Gubbai said the company has permits for public service garages but acknowledged that most were "kept empty" with some used for private purposes. TXGO Y-plate vehicles were kept in private garages when not in use, he said. 

"What will I do now? I have all these cars and 100 workers who are relying on me," Gubbai said. 

Ongoing garage issues

Rules requiring Y-plate operators to have licenced commercial garages for their vehicles were re-introduced in 2023 , three years after Transport Malta dropped that requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The re-introduced rule was intended to reduce the strain of Malta's burgeoning fleet of cabs from taking up street parking places. Existing operators were given a 12-month grace period to obtain Planning Authority permits for public service garages, signed by a licenced architect and civil engineer. 

But the requirement has proved to be highly contentious and it faced additional hurdles when architects' professional body, the Kamra tal-Periti, instructed members to stop signing applications, saying transport authorities were trying to “trick” architects into signing declarations that are not in line with regulations.