The president of the Mobility and Transport Authority announced to the Economy, Innovation and Public Works committee today that the Uber transport service in Portugal is operating illegally "for various reasons."
"It is clear and simple that Uber is outside the law. We must comply with the decision of the courts or fail to follow the rule of law," said João Carvalho, the president of regulator who last week delivered his opinion to the Ministry of the Environment which covers private passenger transport.
The Mobility and Transport Authority says that Uber “has to enter the current legislative framework” but added that the opinion it gave to the Government draws attention to the need to accept new forms of transport and mobility and that it "is open to innovations that translate into more competition."
The Ministry of Environment had requested the opinion of the Transport Authority which was established in July 2015.
João Carvalho said that it now is up to the National Association of Road Carriers and Passenger Cars (ANTRAL) to order the execution of the judgment which prohibited Uber operating in Portugal.
"ANTRAL is the body that has the power to order the execution of the sentence,” said Carvalho and responded to a question from the Left Bloc MP Heitor de Sousa by adding that "now it is up to those who made the complaint go to court to say that the sentence has not been carried out and make Uber comply with the decisions of the court."
The Central Court of Lisbon accepted the April 28, 2015 injunction filed by ANTRAL and banned Uber from operating in Portugal, a decision that was upheld by the same court in June.
Uber's management in Portugal has yet to respond but earlier pointed out that the earlier court judgment was against Uber Inc in the US, not the company that runs the operation in Portugal, Uber BV, based in the Netherlands.
A new contender for Lisbon’s potentially lucrative private transport business has appeared.
Cabify, based in Spain, is “open to dialogue” with the Government and with taxi drivers’ organisations to find a solution to the impasse in the sector.
"We respect the taxi industry’s opinion. We are open to dialogue and committed to finding a solution," said Nuno Santos, the general director of Cabify Portugal.
Santos was speaking at a press conference to launch the service in Lisbon and the surrounding area.
Cabify is fairly similar to Uber but Santos said that he could easily work with local taxi drivers, as the company already does in Spain, with billing per kilometre rather than by journey time a big plus for customers.
Cabify takes bookings and offers service to companies and guarantees that its drivers are certified and that the cars used have liability and personal accident insurance.
Cabify was founded in Spain in 2011, has 300 employees and currently operates in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru and now, Portugal.
Comments
Maybe the established taxi drivers should ask why so many people use them and follow some of their app based methods. Then they might compete to their customers satisfaction. Why should old fashioned methods persist when clearly the customer demands more?
I do not understand how this problem is so difficult to resolve. But I suspect that ANTRAL and the
country´s legal system are just not up to the mark. In other words, the country´s taxi drivers are paying a premium and are not getting the protection they deserve.