Just over a week ago, the Balearic government said that it intended scrapping the current regulation that requires bookings for VTC services to be made a minimum of thirty minutes in advance. VTC, short for transport vehicle with driver, is the licence system by which Uber operates in Mallorca.
It is still the government's intention to get rid of this regulation, but spokesperson Antoni Costa explained on Thursday that it will be maintained for the time being. This is because the government is waiting for a judicial ruling as to whether the 30-minute regulation is valid or not.
The Constitutional Court in Madrid is currently considering an appeal against the regulation. The government has previously pointed to a Supreme Court ruling that annulled the same 30-minute requirement in the Basque Country. However, there is a difference in that the Balearic regulation was introduced through a law. In the Basque Country it was by regional government decree.
Costa added that the government is at present holding talks with the VTC sector about the advance booking requirement and the number of licence authorisations per island. He said that the mobility ministry is seeking to prevent there being "an avalanche" of authorisations. As it is, over 10,000 applications for VTC licences in the Balearics have been registered, the majority of them (some 8,000) being for Ibiza.
The main opposition party, PSOE, has meanwhile registered a motion that seeks to maintain the 30-minute rule. This is due to be debated in the Balearic parliament on Tuesday next week.
After the government made its previous announcement, the taxi sector made clear that it will stage protests against the scrapping of the 30-minute rule.
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