A safer and higher level VTC service for the customer. That is the objective sought by the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso with the new regulation that it presents today and that GRAN MADRID advances exclusively. The explosion of this service in recent years, already installed in the life and leisure of the people of Madrid, still has fringes to polish and consumer complaints to solve.

From the abusive prices at times of high demand, whether at the end of concerts, festivals, football matches or the rush hours of weekend nights, to the notable absent-mindedness that some drivers show behind the wheel, tied to GPS indications and leaving dangerous traces of incompetence in the work. To try to fix all this comes the first regional regulation in all of Spain, drafted - in the absence of the adjustment process - for the nearly 9,000 VTC authorisations that exist today in the region

With this text from the Ministry of Transport, the Government of Madrid intends to provide legal certainty to users and the sector, addressing aspects such as the rights of customers, the purpose and scope of application of the regulation, the requirements for companies to obtain and maintain authorisations or the conditions that drivers must assume. among others. The text, published today on the Transparency Portal, will be submitted in the coming days to the process of submitting allegations, and is expected to enter into force in early 2024.

A telephone line

One of the highlights is something as simple as a phone line. Those who use the services of Uber, Cabify, Bolt... or any of the VTC companies has seen on some occasion the difficulties involved in trying to contact the companies by telephone, especially when reporting a problem. Now the regional regulation will require the activation of a citizen service line, paid for by the operators, as well as an accessible means of communication via the web for people with disabilities.

Money, if you cancel the company

Another interesting rule for the user, helpless when they see that the requested race is cancelled without prior notice, when they had been waiting for a few minutes, is the incorporation of financial compensation. In other words, if the service is cancelled, the regulations detail that, if it is the company that unilaterally aborts a trip and the vehicle does not pick up the passenger, the platform must pay the same amount that the passenger would have to pay otherwise. In the same way, the company will have to compensate the user if, once the assigned car has been communicated, q0 minutes pass and it has not arrived. Unpunctuality will come at a cost.

A VTC vehicle, in a traffic jam.S. E-NISTAL

As far as companies are concerned, the VTC regulations establish that in order to obtain and maintain authorisations, they must have at least a number of drivers equal to the number of authorisations. Also, from 1 January 2025, out of every 10 vehicles available to the public, one must be adapted for people with reduced mobility.

No scares when leaving the festival

But perhaps the most important new feature is the one that will control prices at times of high demand. From now on, it will not be able to exceed 50% of the average ordinary cost, thus seeking to avoid the crazy bills that in recent years have been seen at the exit, for example, of some music festivals. There is also a new type of shared ride that can be subscribed by each user per seat and with individual payment, depending on the route taken. This new alternative allows the first traveller to hire a journey, the price of which will be known in advance, to which other passengers may join either to make the same itinerary or a part of it, since intermediate stops can be made to get on and off customers.

Know the streets

The regulation also now squeezes companies on the figure of their drivers. All must prove that they have a class B or higher driving licence that has been around for at least two years, be free of convictions for crimes against sexual freedom, and have passed a test to assess knowledge of the use of digital devices, the use of Spanish, first aid and the most important places in the region. Vehicles, on the other hand, must be at most two years old to receive the authorization, be retired when they turn 10 and always have the Zero Emissions or ECO environmental badge.

  • Add
  • Sexual Freedom Act
  • Uber
  • Cabify