Palma City Council and the taxi sector have reached a “historic” agreement to regulate the service during the autumn and winter months, agreeing, among other things, to increase the number of taxis per day from 500 to 720 between November and February to guarantee demand.
According to the council, the agreement will be in force from November 2023 to February 2024 with a “significant increase in the number of taxis available”.
The councillor for Mobility and Industrial Estates, Toni Deudero, stressed that the agreement with Palma’s taxi sector “can be described as historic, as it is the first time that it has been ratified unanimously by all parties”.
In addition, he explained that, apart from the increase in the number of taxis, unanimous approval has also been given to a measure which means that between 8 p.m. on 24 December and 8 a.m. on 25 December, and between the same hours on 31 December and 1 January 2024, all taxis may be exempt from the shift and holiday system. Thus, “on these dates taxis will be able to provide unrestricted service”.
Likewise, the councillor indicated that all activity in the sector will be monitored and followed up in order to check that the measure is an improvement for the general public.
Another of the points that obtained unanimous agreement refers to the modification of working hours and time off for taxis adapted for people with reduced mobility.
In this sense, it has been established that they will have to provide service for four days, with one on duty and another off duty day.
On this point, Deudero pointed out that the new decree includes a public list of adapted taxi licences, as well as the ability of the Local Police to impose sanctions and inspections “to guarantee an improved service for the end user”.