A number of cab drivers are claiming they spend up to 16-hour days ferrying passengers across Malta, raising concerns over road safety.

“What I do every day is drive and go to sleep,” one driver told Times of Malta, on condition of anonymity.

“I’ve been working for two months non-stop, 16 hours a day, Monday to Sunday."

Most drivers who endure these long hours are third-country nationals employed by companies that own cars, who hire drivers and subcontract their services to ride-hailing apps. Employees get a cut of the revenue generated by their trips, in what is often called a 50-50 model.

The transport ministry said it is planning a reform to tackle the issue while government sources acknowledged concerns over passenger safety.

Times of Malta spoke to five drivers who said their days are mostly spent in a cab.

One driver said he spends between 12 and 15 hours driving every day and only takes half a day off on Sunday.

“After you reduce the 20 per cent commission for the app and fuel, I keep 50 per cent and the fleet owner gets the other half,” one driver said.

The driver said his boss does not give him sick leave or vacation leave.

“If you have customers, you will get paid. If you don’t, you will not get paid."

Some drivers said they would rather be in regular employment earning a fixed wage with benefits but others said they earn good money with this arrangement, which they can use to support their families back home.

What I do every day is drive and go to sleep

One driver even said he earns €3,000 a month, though not all that income is declared, he said.

“I get a pay slip for €900 and the rest is in cash,” the driver said.

The European Commission’s European Road Safety Observatory says fatigue significantly impairs driving performance and reduces reaction times and decision-making abilities.

“It is estimated that driver fatigue is a contributing factor in 15 to 20 per cent of serious road crashes,” a 2021 European Road Safety Observatory report says.

The transport ministry told Times of Malta that, together with Transport Malta, it is currently in discussions with all stakeholders, including cab driver associations and platform operators, “to put forward a holistic reform of the sector that should address issues of supply and demand, the feasibility of the industry and also work conditions and pay for drivers”.

“It is premature at this stage to discuss where these discussions will take us but we’re hopeful this reform will address most of the issues,” a ministry spokesperson added.

A saturated market

Government sources said an oversupply of cars on apps like Bolt, Uber and e-Cabs has saturated the market but safety is their major concern.

“If before we used to worry more about people drinking and driving on their way to Paceville, now the concern is that the person taking you home hasn’t slept,” one government source said.

The sources also said too many cars on the road mean that fares are too low.

“The industry has been carpet bombed,” one government official said.

A reform might mean slightly higher fares and waiting times, “but what we’ll get in return is safety”, they said.

Aron Gatt, head of a lobby for self-employed cab drivers and small fleet (under four cars) owners, said they have been raising this issue with the authorities for a while.

“Do we need to wait for a tragedy after someone sleeps on the steering wheel to do something,” the president of the Light Passenger Operators Association  asked.

Gatt said the oversaturated market means cab drivers are having a tough time making ends meet.

Drivers also must put up with higher insurance premiums because of more accidents involving Y-plated vehicles, he said.

And fleets which want to employ drivers with regular full-time contracts and an hourly wage are finding it difficult to find people because drivers want a revenue-sharing arrangement with no limit on the hours they work, he said.

Questions were sent to Malta’s three main ride-hailing apps: Bolt, e-Cabs and Uber.

A spokesperson for Bolt said the booking platform does not get involved in the fleet-driver employment relationships.

Still, they said they are open to having discussions with the authorities and that safety is the company’s top priority.

“To ensure road safety and maintain high-quality service, Bolt imposes a 12-hour maximum driving limit for our partner drivers. Once a driver reaches this 12-hour online limit, they are required to take a six-hour break before accepting more trips. This policy is mandatory,” they said.

A spokesperson for e-Cabs said a cap on the number of hours a driver can drive will only be effective if there is a centralised system that is managed by the authorities.

“As an operator of a ride-hailing platform, e-Cabs only has visibility on the volume of hours that drivers work on our platform. We do not have any visibility on the number of hours driven by drivers on the other two platforms available in Malta,” they said.

“In practical terms: if a driver is limited to a maximum of 10 hours of daily access to the e-Cabs platform, they would still be free to simply swap over to Bolt or Uber and continue driving without limitation.”

The transport authorities have the power and the duty to manage and enforce such a system, according to the spokesperson. 

Besides being a ride-hailing app, e-Cabs is also a fleet operator. They said they do not utilise a 50-50 model.

“All drivers employed by the e-Cabs fleet are engaged on regular employment contracts and work regular working hours, receiving all benefits and fiscal coverage in line with the law.”

But e-Cabs has no control over the employment status of other drivers utilising their platform, they said.

The spokesperson said a profit-sharing model is the preferred option for most drivers in Malta.

Although the bulk of ride-hailing drivers in Malta are third-country nationals, the law precludes them from being self-employed, so the authorities must decide to either clamp down on the 50-50 model or regulate it with clear parameters, they said.

“We believe that addressing these issues requires a collaborative effort between ride-hailing companies, drivers and regulatory authorities,” they said.

An Uber spokesperson said: “We want to provide safe, rewarding and flexible earning opportunities to all drivers working with the Uber app, and we want to raise their standard of work.”