New taxi rules: drivers monitored by CCTV and passengers get ‘emergency button’

New rules for the liberalisation of the white taxi service published this week have brought into force conditions for new taxi driver licences and for taxi vehicles themselves, which now must have taximeters that issue fiscal receipts, a vehicle tracking device, and an emergency button for both passengers and driver.

Taxis will be fitted with a surveillance camera, which will transmit images to a control room at Transport Malta. And the images will be accessible to the police in the event of a report of if they are aware of a criminal offence being committed.

A public call for tender will be issued for the granting of new licences between 2010 and 2014, which will be capped at 250. But after 2015, the market will be completely liberalised, with consultations to be held to analyse the impact of new taxi licences to be granted.

Applicants for taxi licences must satisfy the authority that they are “of good repute and conduct”: they cannot have been found guilty of crimes under specific breaches of the Criminal Code, or have had a prison sentence exceeding one month or a €4,000 fine in the last 10 years or a fined over €1,000 for breaching traffic regulations.

However, the law is empowering the minister to exempt present taxi drivers from these conditions “in exceptional circumstances.”

Divers must also wear “clean and appropriate clothing”, drive prudently so as not to make passengers feel ‘unsafe or anxious’, refrain from smoking and must not “hold lengthy discussions while driving” or play music in the car.

The new rules also prohibit drivers from passing through streets at a slow speed and “annoy any person by soliciting hire” or importuning persons to hire a taxi at a taxi stand.

New drivers must also pass a written, oral and practical examination to be awarded a licence, and complete a refresher course every five years. They will have to be expert drivers, show thorough knowledge of routes and prime tourist locations; prove interpersonal skills for customer care, politeness and personal cleanliness; and be fluent in Maltese and able to communicate in English.