In a turnaround that has left taxi drivers’ unions in disarray, the government said today that Uber, the web-based transport service, will be fully legal and operational by the end of the summer.
In response to taxi drivers injunctions to halt Uber in its tracks, the government agreed to set up a working party, usually the kiss of death to any new initiative, which has decided that Uber indeed is the way forward for customer choice and to mark Portugal as a go-ahead country that embraces changing ways of doing business.
There of course will be new regulations applicable to Uber and its web-based competitors such as Cabify but José Mendes, the secretary of state for the environment said everything will be in place in just a couple of months as the consultation process now is over.
Admitting that Uber has wide customer support in Lisbon and Oporto where the company has been operating with unclear legality, Mendes said that taxi drivers serve a different customer sector and both types of service can operate side by side.
A limited service was launched in the Algarve on June 7th centred around the airport area and offering two services for passengers, the basic and low-cost UberX service, and uberXL which provides vehicles with room for seven passengers.
Opposition to Uber’s cheaper, faster business model started with taxi drivers’ in Lisbon, Oporto and Faro protesting in April.
This aimed to put pressure on the government to uphold a court ban on Uber’s operations but the government now has taken a step in the right direction and allowed competition into the transport market while ensuring Uber drivers are licensed as well as the traditional taxi drivers.
Taxi drivers’ associations are of course challenged the government's decision to legalise Uber and its ilk, promising action.
Association leader Carlos Ramos said today that the government’s decision marks the end of public passenger transport as it represents "a total deregulation of the market."
Florencio de Almeida from ANTRAL, said that "there is still a long way to go and associations will not allow legalisation lightly."
"You can count on a street protest that will be unstoppable. The associations will not allow the sector to be deregulated and the regulation of what is illegal," concluded Almeida.
