The decree that regulates the Car rental with driverapproved in Parliament last Wednesday, delegates to the municipal and metropolitan entities the final decision on moratoriums. On paper, the vast majority of VTC will be without a license as of October 1 by not having a vehicle from a minimum length of 4.90 meters, one of the requirements of the new regulations. In the case of the Catalan capital, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area could give an extension of up to a year for the fleets to update. It remains to be seen. But from the outset it may draw attention that the AMB body that will be in charge of regulating the business of companies such as Cabify, Uber o Bolt be the Metropolitan Taxi Institute (MIRACLE).
This is confirmed to this newspaper by a spokesman for this body, which states that they are working “to apply what the decree law says“. “When we have the administrative Procedurewe will publish it on the IMET website”, he advances. The president of this organization is Laia Bonet, Councilor for Mobility at Barcelona City Council. her party, the PSCis precisely the one who has allowed the processing of the decree law in Parliament with his favorable vote, and his is the requirement of the minimum length of the vehicle that the Catalan Competition Authority has described as “unjustified restriction“. Although the entity incorporates the word ‘taxi’, in its statutes it is established that the IMET is in charge of the “management of the metropolitan passenger transport service in light automobiles rental with driver”, which would include the VTC.
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Persons (individuals or legal entities) who wish to apply for a license to carry out VTC urban services They must submit their request to the IMET between September 1 and 30. On October 1, the four-year extension granted by the Government ends (the so-called ‘Ábalos decree‘) and without a municipal or subway permit These trips will no longer be possible. In the case of the AMB, any journey made between the 36 towns that make up the entity is considered urban, hence the importance of the decree, since the vast majority of licenses, close to 95%, operate in the surroundings of the Catalan capital.
In Catalonia there are about 4,000 VTC licences, but a thousand are not active and, therefore, will no longer be able to carry out economic activity. There are about 3,000 assigned vehicles, but only half have worked continuously in the last year (a minimum of 100 services). The thing is already in 1,500 credentials. According to calculations of Department of the Vice Presidency, Digital Policies and Territory, about half of the latter currently meet the minimum length required. That is, about 750, a figure that the VTC sector denies. In the case of Cabify, a company that does not reveal how many cars it has in the city, 99% of the cars do not meet the 4.90 meter mark. The IMT will decide whether to give you a grace time. Or yes no if he gives it.
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