The Association 21/26 – For Personal Rights and Resistance today challenged the decision of Transtejo Soflusa to only accept payments by card in the assisted ticket offices of the Terreiro do Paço River Terminal in Lisbon.
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20/09/2026
by
Lusa
ANDm reported, Association 21/26 questions the effects of the measure on passengers, asks to replace the possibility of paying in cash on the counters assisted and asks the Assembly of the Republic to appreciate urgently the creation of proportional sanctions for unjustified refusals.
This position follows the publication by Transtejo Soflusa on its social networks on 11 September of the information that, “from september 14, the purchase and loading of transport tickets are carried out by bank card only.”.
In the publication, the company presents the adjectives “fast”, “safe”, “efficient” and “sustainable” to support the decision.
The Association 21/26 considers “particularly worrying that the measure concerns precisely the counters to provide human service to passengers”.
“What good is an assisted ticket office if a citizen in need of human care can’t pay with notes and coins?”, question.
The Association also warns “the difficulties that the decision can create passengers who do not own or use bank cards who need assistance in the acquisition of their transport tickets”.
“ The possible existence of vending machines or other points of sale does not in itself respond to the problem posed. A central question is the impossibility of using cash, precisely at the counter to which a passenger uses to obtain human care“, adds the communiqué of the associative structure.
The Association 21/26 also stresses that “the decision raises issues that deserve legal evaluation in the light of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”, in particular with regard to the “Principle of Equality, (...) the Right of Displacement, (...) and Consumer Rights”.
On the other hand, the organisation adds that “euro banknotes and coins are legal tender and that their acceptance is the general rule, except for the exceptions legally provided for in the law”.
In this context, the Association asked Transtejo Soflusa to “clarify the concrete legal basis of the decision, the reasons for its application to assisted ticket offices and the assessment made of the possible effects on passengers”.
The association also informed that it has already requested clarification from the company and various public entities, including parliamentary groups of the Assembly of the Republic.
Lusa has already asked Transtejo Soflusa for information on the reasons for this decision.
Transtejo Soflusa is responsible for the river connections between Seixal, Montijo, Cacilhas, Barreiro and Trafaria/Porto Brandão, in the district of Setúbal, and Lisbon.