The Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Valencian Superior Court of Justice has annulled two paragraphs of an article of the Mobility ordinance of the Valencia City Council, referring to the parking of VTCs in places of concentration of demand and the advance time of the reservation .
The ruling of the Fourth Section, dated April 19, 2023, thus upholds the appeal presented by a company against the modification of the ordinance approved in December 2021, and will be discussed in the next Treasury commission of the consistory.
The ruling imposes the payment of the procedural costs, 2,500 euros, to the City Council, and an appeal could be filed against the ruling before the Supreme Court or the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the TSJCV.
It declares it contrary to law and annuls a paragraph of article 53 bis of the ordinance, relating to the prohibition of parking at a distance of less than 300 meters from places of concentration and generation of demand for passenger transport services: ports, airports, stations railway and bus networks, shopping and leisure centres, sports-recreational and health-care facilities, hotels with more than 400 accommodation places and taxi ranks with a capacity of more than 9 places.
Also another point related to the pre-contracting of the service at least one hour in advance of the provision, except urgent services or under contracts with public administrations.
The City Council then governed by Compromís and PSPV filed an appeal against the sentence, which was inadmissible for processing by the Supreme Court due to lack of justification of the arguments, according to a ruling dated September 20, 2023.
The spokesperson for the current government team, Juan Carlos Caballero, has indicated that the courts "continue to rule" against the regulation of VTCs made by the government then chaired by Joan Ribó.
"The previous government's regulation was a botch and now we are studying finding a way out. The PSOE should stop lying and tell the truth, the City Council cannot continue with the judicial route in this case," Caballero pointed out.
The reactions of the opposition
From the socialist group, councilor María Pérez has asked the mayor, María José Catalá, to clarify if "she is going to open the door" to VTC licenses to compete with the taxi sector and turn València "into a franchise of chaos into which the PP has transformed Madrid".
For his part, the Compromís councilor Giuseppe Grezzi - who was a Mobility councilor in the previous legislature - has stated that the VTC Regulation ordinance that was approved in the Joan Ribó government "guarantees that the taxi can continue providing the service public and quality, without intrusion or unfair competition".
