The Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands (TSJC) endorses that the city councils can force taxi drivers to wear uniforms. This has been confirmed in the ruling issued on June 17, in which an appeal filed by the Eurotaxis association of Arrecife is dismissed, against the modification of the service ordinance approved on August 20, 2008 by the capital's City Council.
In said ordinance, the implementation of a single fleet management system, Auriga, was agreed, as well as that taxi drivers were uniformed and that invoices for services were issued in the name of the drivers themselves, and not of the Taxi Cooperative.
The ordinance was appealed by Eurotaxis de Arrecife considering that Auriga restricted "free competition" and eliminated "the personal freedom of the businessman". Likewise, the taxi drivers association maintained that the use of uniform implied "discrimination" and a "violation of the principle of equal treatment" with respect to other sectors, and that the requirement of an invoice in the name of the driver and not of the cooperative "harmed the existence of the latter".
However, the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands considers that the taxi service "is not a private activity of general interest, but a public service" and that, therefore, "the municipality is allowed to impose limitations" on the way the service is provided. "Faced with the business interest of each taxi driver in particular, the possibility of adopting measures that benefit the public transport service must be prioritized," the ruling states, which affirms that this activity is therefore not "completely free", even for "those who from their personal perspective only see in the service an instrument of private business".
Guarantee "due decorum"
In relation to the uniform, the chamber considers that the City Council has the power to "impose uniformity on clothing, since taxi drivers are operators of a public service" and, therefore, the City Council can demand this measure to "guarantee due decorum". In this sense, the chamber rejects the arguments of Eurotaxi and points out that it is not enough to allege "inequality", but that it is necessary to "provide elements that constitute the term of comparison".
Regarding the issuance of invoices by the driver, the Superior Court of Justice alleges that "the use of the receipt with insignias and with the data of the cooperative society does not respect the receipt model" established by the municipal taxi ordinance, where "any type of advertising both inside and outside the vehicle" is prohibited.
Regarding the single switchboard, the TSJC considers that it is accredited that "the principle of freedom of enterprise is not infringed", since this system was intended, "in a justified manner, to improve the provision of the service".
Auriga was promoted by the Cabildo and ordinances were approved in the different municipalities of the island for its implementation. However, disagreements between the previous Minister of Transport, the taxi drivers and the municipalities ruined this initiative. Finally, several municipalities distanced themselves and a switchboard was promoted outside of Auriga, in which taxi drivers from different municipalities were integrated, leaving those of Arrecife aside.