Malta's biggest Y-Plate operator to have licence suspended
Tribunal gives regulator the all-clear to sanction WT Global, effectively barring over 300 Y-Plate vehicles from operating as cabs
Transport Malta has been given the legal green light to suspend the country’s largest fleet of Y-Plate cabs.
The Administrative Review Tribunal ruled that incorrect information provided by WT Global meant the transport regulator was justified in clamping down on the company and enforcing Y-Plate cab rules.
Transport Minister Chris Bonett said that ride-hailing platforms have now been informed that the regulator will be proceeding to suspend WT Global's licence.
Once in effect, the decision will effectively bar over 300 Y-Plate vehicles from operating as cabs.
Transport Malta had first suspended WT Global’s licence in January 2025 after it discovered that the company had listed various sites as public service garages when they were evidently not.
A garage the company listed in Binġemma was a field with no access for vehicles; another in Żebbuġ was being used to store white goods; another in Gżira was in fact a residential building, not a functional garage.
Other sites listed as garages by WT Global were still in the process of obtaining permits to function as public service garages.
WT Global immediately sued Transport Malta and a court gave the company permission to continue operating while the case was assessed.
On Monday, a tribunal led by Magistrate Claudio Zammit found in Transport Malta’s favour.
WT Global argued that it had 661 parking spaces for a fleet of 347 vehicles and that garages flagged as problematic had been delisted. Any discrepancies found by regulators were purely administrative and being fixed, it said.
The tribunal rejected the company’s legal arguments, saying it was irrelevant whether the company provided false information with malicious intent or simply made a mistake: the wording of the law did not make that distinction.
It also dismissed WT Global’s argument that it had a surplus of parking spots across its various sites. The fact that the company had listed wrong sites as garages meant the regulator was empowered to sanction the firm, the tribunal said.
The decision is subject to appeal.