Updated 5.55pm with TM response

More Y-plate cabs have been permitted to return to the roads after a court upheld a second fleet operator's request to resume operations. 

Magistrate Charmaine Galea granted the injunction to TXGO Limited and suspended a Transport Malta decision that ordered the Y-plate cabs off the road.

This follows last week’s decision when another fleet operator, WT Global, was granted a provisional injunction allowing it to resume operations while its broader legal battle against Transport Malta is decided.

WT Global and TXGO were among a raft of companies that had their licence suspended by the transport regulator last month.

Transport Malta moved against the companies after discovering that they did not have properly licenced garages for all their vehicles.

In some cases, inspectors found that addresses listed as public service garages were actually empty fields.

The companies subsequently began court proceedings to have that decision revoked.

In both cases, Magistrate Charmaine Galea ruled that the company should be allowed to operate while the court decides on the merits of ongoing  case.

Fleet operators provide drivers and vehicles for ride-hailing platforms like Bolt, Uber and eCabs.

The sector has expanded significantly in the past years but Transport Malta last year began to more actively enforce sectoral regulations and clamp down on abusers.

Around 1,400 Y-plate vehicles - roughly 30% of the country's stock - were taken off the roads in the past weeks following enforcement action.

In a statement to Times of Malta,Transport Malta said it took note of the court's decision that allows another Y-plate operator to continue their operations during ongoing court procedures.

"Despite the aforementioned decision, Transport Malta will continue to work hard to ensure that all operators in this sector abide by the law and regulations in place," it said. 

Laywers Mario de Marco and Ryan Bezzina represented TXGO Ltd.