The New Players

Over the past few years, Maltese roads have become increasingly crowded with cars bearing the logos of the major ride-hailing platforms. What started with the occasional locally based driver using their own car to earn some extra cash has now become an industry dominated by third-country nationals.

There is nothing inherently wrong with third-country nationals; they are as important a part of Malta’s vibrant community as anyone else. That said, the trend does raise questions about why a job which, until just a few years ago, many Maltese seemed happy to do is now exclusively undertaken by third-country nationals.

At this point, it’s worth reviewing how the ride-hailing industry in Malta works and who the major players are. Companies like eCabs, Bolt, and Uber, which run the apps people use to book rides, are obviously key players in the system, as are the drivers who actually transport passengers from one location to the next.

What many may not realise, however, is that a new type of player has recently emerged—one that has inserted itself between the app companies and the drivers. These new players are car fleet companies that have purchased hundreds of vehicles for their workers to drive around the clock.

Pay Less, Wait Less

Drivers who have spoken to Lovin Malta described how they paid €10,000 just for the opportunity to come to Malta to work as drivers. Many have also reported being wrongfully registered as part-time workers despite working 16-hour shifts. Others have admitted to not paying their national insurance contributions, receiving payment as untaxable expenses to boost their earnings. Sources have even alleged widespread tax evasion, insisting that this is the only way such businesses can operate profitably.

Doubts about the industry’s feasibility appear justified. It’s difficult to understand how, ever since the introduction of large car fleet companies, both prices and waiting times have decreased, despite the driver and platforms now having to share the fare with the fleet companies.

Sure, the number of tourists has continued to increase, but cab services aren’t exactly a perfect example of an easily scalable business. Each trip still requires a car that needs to be maintained and a driver who needs to continue living. Someone is getting short-changed, and it likely isn’t the cab drivers. While it’s true that they’re working long hours at a low rate, the reality is that many are happy to do so. They’re also having the deal sweetened by being given the opportunity to deprive the state of a considerable amount of tax revenue.

Election Results Haunt Abela

Which brings us back to the Prime Minister. Given that this has been going on for quite a while, it’s worth asking: Why now? The way the news was delivered suggests that what Abela wanted most out of this was public impact. His primary motivation is likely the results of May’s MEP elections, which saw Labour achieve its most disappointing electoral result in over a decade. A concern among many voters is the issue of overpopulation, and this was communicated to Labour loud and clear. Having detention services vans accompany police and Identity Malta officials on roadblocks sends a clear message to the people that the government is acting on the issue.

But it also appears to be true that while the government may have suspected that not everything in the industry was above board, they hadn’t quite realised just how big the problem had become. In addition to a significant amount of money generated through economic activity being sent overseas—something many third-country nationals are known to do—there’s also an impact on the country’s infrastructure and social services.

Infrastructure like the country’s hospital needs to be able to cater for a larger population, no easy task when both space and money are limited. Similarly our roads are crowded to a point that driving is a chaotic and sometimes dangerous activity. 

Who Gains?

The government is naturally aware of all of these problems and with the potential of a global economic downturn on the horizon, it is likely questioning the value of allowing a system that deprives it of tax revenue while simultaneously increasing the strain on infrastructure and services, to continue operating unabated.

And for what? One would suppose that the government viewed the industry as a stopgap solution to its own inadequacy in ensuring efficient and effective public transport, but what about the rest of us?

Data on the public’s use of ride-hailing platforms isn’t readily available, mainly because we haven’t updated the way we collect statistics of national importance in 2024. The little that we know suggests that while more people are using cabs, most do so very sporadically—perhaps once every three months. Some might use them more regularly, but ultimately, life in Malta remains centred around private cars.

This means that the vast majority of rides booked through apps are by tourists, many of whom come from countries where they are accustomed to paying more for rides on these platforms. There is little to suggest that they wouldn’t use the service if prices were slightly higher.

So, is it really worth having more cars on the road and increased strain on our national infrastructure to ensure cheap cab rides for tourists? Is it worth condemning the job of a cab driver to the growing list of activities that were once professions but are now just forms of modern slavery?

What About Safety? Is it worth having hundreds of inexperienced foreign nationals, the vast majority of whom are used to driving on the opposite side of the road, driving around at the tail end of 16-hour shifts and speeding to fit in as many trips as possible?

Who is monitoring whether these drivers are overtired or intoxicated? If you show up to work drunk, your employer won’t let you behind the wheel, but if, as is the case with most of these fleet drivers, their employer gives them a car and sets targets for them to achieve on their own schedule, who ensures that the driver is fit to drive? What if he’s sick but insists on working? What if he’s tired or even drunk? Who takes responsibility if there’s a fatal accident?

The Need for Regulation

If cabs are going to be an integral part of our transport options, the least we can expect is some oversight. Pilots and cabin crew must abide by strict regulations regarding rest and alcohol consumption because their fitness to do their job affects the safety of hundreds of people. At the same time, we know that you’re more likely to die in a car crash than in a plane crash. Surely this calls for some form of regulatory body that can demand information and impose penalties for behaviour that endangers public safety.

Without illegalities, we would likely have the same system we have today, except waiting times would increase by a few minutes and rides would become slightly more expensive. Let’s face it, while convenient, a one-minute wait time is almost better than having your own personal driver because the likelihood is he won’t park right outside, and you’ll still need to wait a while for him to bring the car around.

The merits of everything the sources are alleging will need to be verified by a competent authority, but what seems clear is that an entire sector was allowed to develop and operate in the shadows before anyone in the state’s various tax, employment, and identity agencies thought to understand exactly what was happening. It begs the question: How can we trust the state to notice problems that are less obvious?

Maybe the Prime Minister should appoint an inquiry to figure out what exactly is happening and make recommendations, which we can then promptly ignore.