Malta saw over 300 new foreign cab drivers despite Prime Minister saying 'no more workers needed'

In July 2024, Prime Minister Robert Abela stated, 'The country has reached the maximum, and no more such workers is needed. Therefore, no more workers will be accepted in these types of jobs' • 307 new foreign cab drivers obtained their permit after Abela's statement 

Throughout last year, Malta gained 1,188 cab drivers, but only 296 of them were Maltese, with the remaining 892 being foreign
Throughout last year, Malta gained 1,188 cab drivers, but only 296 of them were Maltese, with the remaining 892 being foreign

More than 300 foreign drivers were granted a Transport Malta (TM) permit needed to drive cabs in the five months after Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the country has enough taxi drivers.

In July 2024, Abela had stated that, “The country has reached the maximum, and no more such workers is needed. Therefore, no more workers will be accepted in these types of jobs.”

He had confirmed that hundreds of non-EU nationals applying to work as taxi drivers and food couriers are having their work permit applications refused.

Despite this, data tabled in parliament on Tuesday shows that 307 foreign individuals were granted TM-issued tags needed to legally drive cabs.

Responding to a parliamentary question by shadow minister for transport Mark Anthony Sammut, transport minister Chris Bonett provided a breakdown of the number of tags granted to Maltese and foreign cab drivers in 2024.

Throughout last year, Malta gained 1,188 cab drivers, but only 296 of them were Maltese, with the remaining 892 being foreign.

Month New LPTV tags issued Tags granted to Maltese citizens Tags granted to foreign citizens
January 90 19 71
February 77 14 63
March 70 14 56
April 122 25 97
May 127 23 104
June 103 19 84
July 148 38 110
August 113 32 81
September 99 37 62
October 81 24 57
November 95 31 64
December 63 20 43
Total 1,188 296 892

The figures show that the five months after Robert Abela's statement, the number of new foreign cab drivers decreased by about 100 when compared to the previous five months. 

Insiders explain anomaly

Industry insiders who spoke to MaltaToday explained the likely reason behind the still-growing number of foreign cab drivers.

"While it is true that a cab operator's request to bring foreign workers to Malta to drive cabs will be rejected by Identità, this does not take into consideration the 100,000 foreigners already in Malta."

The insider explained that once a third-country national resides in Malta for over six months, they can obtain a driver's licence after passing the driving test. After obtaining the licence, they can apply for a cab driver tag, where they will likely be accepted.

Cab lobby had flagged increase in cab vehicles in December

Last December, employment minister Byron Camilleri had claimed that the number of TCNs working in Malta’s cab and courier sectors had decreased by 19% since June. Responding to another parliamentary question at the time, Camilleri did not separate cab drivers from couriers and gave one global figure as a statistic.

This caught the eye of the Light Passenger Operators Association (LPOA), which stated that abuse in the sector remains widespread.

LPOA also made reference to cab journey prices which have returned to 2023 levels after a spike last summer. "This indicates that the market remains oversupplied, similar to when large numbers of 3CNs were being employed."

The association further questioned how some fleet owners have increased their fleet sizes significantly, with more than 150 cars added across a number of fleets. "This raises the question: Who is driving these cars if the supply of drivers has decreased?"

Separately, the spokesperson emphasised that when publishing such figures, distinctions must be made between couriers and cab drivers, in order to provide a clear picture of each sector.