Malta's largest cab fleet files 'urgent appeal' to licence suspension
WT Global battles Transport Malta as cab users report longer waiting times and higher prices
Malta’s largest fleet of Y-plate cabs has said it will be filing an “urgent appeal” to a court decision that enabled Transport Malta to suspend them.
WT Global said it was concerned the regulator had immediately moved to suspend its operating licence despite issues that led to the original decision having been resolved.
In a decision handed down on Monday, the Administrative Review Tribunal gave Transport Malta the green light to sanction WT Global.
Transport Malta had initially suspended WT Global in January 2025 after its inspectors found that various addresses the company listed as garages were houses, storage spaces or even a field.
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.
WT Global had immediately filed court action to block the regulator from suspending its licence, and a court had provisionally upheld that request.
Following Monday's decision, Transport Minister Chris Bonett said Transport Malta was immediately moving ahead with the licence suspension. Ride-hailing platforms were ordered to immediately suspend all WT Global drivers from their apps.
WT Global: We took action
In a statement on Wednesday, WT Global said it was perplexed by Transport Malta's immediate suspension as it had acted to fix irregularities while court proceedings were ongoing.
"The decision primarily examined circumstances relating to January 2025. Throughout the proceedings, WT Global took corrective action, amended and removed the facilities contested by the Authority, regularised pending sites and maintained sufficient operational parking capacity for its fleet," it said.
“For this reason, the company struggles to understand why enforcement leading to the effective shutdown of operations is still being pursued in 2026 despite the company having achieved compliance during the course of the proceedings”.
The company said it will be including "the necessary legal requests arising from the decision".
Times of Malta contacted the company, asking whether their "request" would be to lift the suspension. The company said they had no further comment besides their written statement.
WT Global has around 300 Y-Plates that operate in the industry, making it Malta’s largest single operator.
Readers who spoke to Times of Malta reported higher than usual fees and waiting times for cabs booked through ride-hailing apps on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
One reader said her Bolt app offered a waiting time of 19 minutes on Tuesday evening after around 10 drivers rejected her request for a pick up from Attard. Typically Bolt drivers pick up clients within three to four minutes.
It is unclear whether this is only related to the suspension, with some industry sources pointing out that Wednesday happens to be a Muslim holiday- Eid al-Adha- one of two major holidays in the Islamic calendar.