Overview
- On Thursday the Autoritat Catalana de la Competència (ACCO) formally warned that the draft 'ley del taxi' would likely violate EU freedoms of establishment and service provision and recommended a deep rewrite.
- Since then a surge of judicial decisions has undercut metropolitan limits on VTCs, with industry groups saying roughly 3,000 cases are pending and about 25% already ruled in favor of VTC claimants.
- A recent ruling from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Catalunya (TSJC) questioned permit requirements set by the Institut Metropolità del Taxi (IMET), and IMET says it is appealing adverse decisions and that many judgments are not yet final.
- Platforms and VTC owners are pushing public-relations and market-integration moves, including an Uber event in Barcelona that mixed taxi and VTC drivers to show coexistence, while VTC groups warn they may seek compensation if restrictions are overturned.
- The combination of ACCO’s opinion, the court trend and a reported European Commission review has left the law stalled in the Parlament and created financial risk for the Generalitat if the restrictions are later voided.