Portugal has a new plan to regulate the ride-hailing business of companies such as Uber, Taxify, Cabify and others, hopefully putting an end to confusion, strikes, endless court cases and in some cases violence.
The new regulations, approved by Parliament last week, requires all drivers to take a taxi driver training course, length to be determined later. There will be a new licence for the drivers and for the platforms or app companies, and drivers will have to be given work contracts, rather than being treated as independent operators.
The system will be funded by a fee, paid by the platform, in the form of a fee on each journey’s charge. The rate is not yet set, but will be no more than 2%. The regulations are possible because a European court has now clarified that Uber and its competitors are in the transport business, not merely providing a software link between rider and driver.
