Transport Malta said it has moved to suspend WT Global Limited with immediate effect after an Administrative Review Tribunal on Tuesday rejected the company's appeal and upheld the authority's earlier decision to suspend its operator licence.

In a statement Tuesday, the authority said that the tribunal revoked an interim measure which had allowed WT Global to continue operating, has now rejected the company's appeal, and confirmed the authority's decision to suspend the licence.

The authority said WT Global had argued that it did not make false declarations regarding parking and garaging facilities used in support of its operator licence application, while also maintaining that it had sufficient parking spaces overall for its fleet.

The company had also argued that some sites had since been regularised and planning approvals had later been obtained.

Transport Malta, however, maintained that the licence had been granted on the basis of declared garaging facilities which inspections later found were not genuinely being used for parking LPTS vehicles while off duty, contrary to the requirements of Subsidiary Legislation 499.68.

In view of the tribunal's findings, and particularly the revocation of the interim measure allowing operations to continue, Transport Malta said it is informing booking platforms to immediately suspend WT Global Limited from its LPTS operator licence.

The tribunal's decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the Court of Appeal within the applicable statutory period.

The case follows an earlier court decision in which WT Global had temporarily succeeded in overturning the suspension of its operator licence after challenging Transport Malta's actions.

At the time, the company had argued the authority acted disproportionately and failed to properly assess the parking facilities available to it.