Malta’s biggest cab fleet has agreed to pay over €400,000 in unpaid Transport Malta fines.
WT Global, which has some 300 cars registered as Y-plates, has already paid a lump sum that amounts to a quarter of the total due.
It will pay the rest of the amount in instalments, according to sources.
Cab fleets risk a €500 fine for on-street illegal parking. Owners of Y-plate vehicles can only park them for up to one hour in public parking stops. Otherwise, cars must be stored in commercial garages.
Replying to questions, Transport Malta said it is implementing an “enforcement strategy” to ensure outstanding dues related to contraventions are addressed.
The spokesperson did not answer specific questions about WT Global but said the agency had collected over half a million euros in overdue fines from Y-plate fleets in January.
“No Y-plate operator can renew their licence unless all outstanding fines are settled. This enforcement mechanism ensures that dues are paid, and those who fail to comply will face restrictions on their ability to operate.
“In the last month, Transport Malta collected more than €540,000 in dues from operators, including the ones that were allowed by a court to operate.”
In January, Transport Malta cracked down on fleets that were not abiding by regulations requiring larger fleets to have public service garages for their vehicles.
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.
Later in January, 500 Y-plate cabs, including the vehicles owned by WT Global and another company, TXGO Limited, were taken off the road after inspectors found that addresses listed as public service garages were actually fields, stores and shops.
However, WT Global and another cab fleet, TXGO Limited, had their licences provisionally returned following a request to the court.
Rules requiring Y-plate operators to have licensed commercial garages for their vehicles were reintroduced in 2023, three years after Transport Malta dropped that requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reintroduced rule was intended to reduce the strain of Malta’s burgeoning fleet of cabs taking up street parking spaces. Existing operators were given a 12-month grace period to obtain Planning Authority permits for public service garages, signed by a licensed architect and civil engineer.
Questions were sent to WT Global last week.