Updated 9.45am

More than 4,000 contraventions have been handed out against Y-plate vehicles between January and August this year for being parked in spots reserved for the public.

The figure came from Transport Malta CEO Jonathan Borg, who told Times of Malta that the roads authority has given “light passenger vehicles” 4,236 contraventions for being illegally parked on the street. The term refers to cabs with Y-plates.

The use of public white boxes by cab operators has been an issue for months. Y-plate vehicles are not allowed to take up public spots for extended periods of time. As the law stands, every cab must have a corresponding garage or off-street parking site for periods when not in use.

In May, a new law came into effect that allowed cab drivers to park their vehicles on-street for a limited amount of time during their shift.

Borg did not qualify how many of the contraventions were given to Y-plates parked outside a driver’s shift. 

No information was provided about the cab operators responsible for the fines. But a spokesperson for one such operator, eCabs, said it had received almost no parking tickets for its fleet in the past year and was contesting that "handful" of tickets.

Ecabs said its own fleet of vehicles (which carry ecabs decals) had been fined a negligible number of times. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

According to the new laws, drivers on duty must park the vehicle at least 250 metres away from taxi stands at designated sites and 100 metres from other taxi stands. They must also be at least 15 metres away from bus stops.

This has given Y-plates greater freedom and flexibility, as they are no longer forced to drive back to their garage during the driver’s working hours.

In February, Times of Malta had reported a case of a driver being fined €500 for parking for no longer than 10 minutes in a white box, to go to the bathroom and buy a drink.

The same law also introduced a new requirement for Y-plate operators: they must now submit plans for garages or off-street parking with an adequate amount of space to store their fleet.

They were given two months to provide the plans to Transport Malta and must also hand them in for their annual licence renewal, failing which they might be refused the licence.

In May, sources said that many Y-plate cars are often registered under one-car garages and, in some cases, even P.O. boxes.

Transport Malta has said it may use geofencing in the future, a technology that can track cab drivers relative to marked geographic areas.

Earlier this month, Malta Today published a series of articles regarding residents who complained about Y-plate vehicles parking in public spaces at night, claiming that the authority had not responded to residents’ complaints.