A Palma court has annulled a Palma town hall requirement that obliged taxis to have dataphones for card payments.
An appeal against this was lodged by taxi driver associations, the requirement having come into effect in July 2019. The court is of the view that the town hall neglected the public information process when amending municipal ordinance governing public transport.
The associations continue to reject the requirement. They maintain that the obligation to have payment by card was established "without contemplating or regulating different scenarios that such a measure may involve", such as what would happen if the card payment reader stopped working or was in an area with poor coverage.
They point out that payment by card involves a commission. Short journeys are normal in "small cities like Palma". So this becomes "extremely burdensome" if there is no minimum amount for this payment method. In addition, they argue that Palma's decision was contrary to the "principle of equality" with the rest of the municipalities of Mallorca, where taxis do not have this obligation.