MADRID, 4 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court has ratified a previous ruling that annulled the obligation that a minimum of 30 minutes elapse between the contracting of a VTC service and its provision, which applies in several autonomous communities.
Specifically, on March 11, it ratified a ruling from the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country, which agreed to annul several articles of the regulations applied by the Basque Government with respect to the activity of rental vehicles with drivers (VTC), operated mainly by digital platforms such as Uber and Cabify.
“It constitutes a very notable limitation for the exercise of this business activity, since the client seeks the provision of this type of services in the shortest period of time and for the most advantageous price possible. Therefore, said requirement, by canceling the immediacy of the provision, dissuades the user from using it to the point where there is a serious risk of expulsion from the market of companies that operate under this type of license,” states the ruling.
The text also validates that users know the geolocation of the vehicles available on a platform before contracting them, considering that it benefits consumers, and the public interest is protected in accordance with the rules of the Market Unity Guarantee Law. .
The sector’s employers, Feneval and Unauto VTC, defend that this ruling confirms the doctrine already established by the Supreme Court in the resolution on February 13 of an identical case raised at the request of Uber.
In a statement, both business organizations recall that this limitation imposed in the Basque Country was also adopted in other regions such as the Valencian Community, Catalonia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands.
“The most striking case is that of the island community, where its Parliament approved on February 6, with the consensus and mutual congratulations of all political groups, a limitation identical to the one now annulled twice by the Supreme Court,” they point out.
On the contrary, Feneval and Unauto congratulate other regions such as Andalusia or Madrid for being “clearly aligned with competition between modes of transport and respect for the rights of users and their freedom of choice.”