Promulgation of the revision of the TVDE Law maintains injustice in the sector

O President of the Republic, António José Seguro, promulgated on Tuesday the decree of the Assembly of the Republic amending Law No 45/2018 of 10 August, which approves the legal regime of the activity of individual and remunerated passenger transport in vehicles characterized from electronic platform (TVDE).

“ The first feeling we have is that the TVDE sector will end up continuing this saga of being a highly wronged sector, completely under the domain of platforms ", told Lusa Ivo Fernandes, of the Portuguese Association of Car Carriers in Uncharacterized (APTAD).

According to this person, who asked the President of the Republic for the veto of the TVDE legal regime, for creating a “severe distortion” of competition between cars per app and taxis, the law now enacted only benefits platforms.

Ivo Fernandes stressed that the law, “taking away little notes claimed” by the association, as a whole reflects “the concern of the deputies” of the PSD and the Enough that “promoted and passed” the decree.

“ It was with the aim of benefiting the platforms, promoting a service that competes in the descending direction of the price, taking advantage of the extremely cheap workforce and exploiting these people who work daily and these companies, who end up supporting the transport of people ", advanced.

According to the responsible, the sector is expected to “continue on the path of low profitability and completely dominated by the narrative of international platforms”.

In the major changes from the previous legal regime to the now promulgated one, the most contested one was the integration of the taxi sector, since these vehicles can now be “registered for the TVDE activity, provided that they meet the requirements for vehicles assigned to this activity and are registered with a licensed electronic platform manager”.

Among other entities related to the taxi and TVDE sector, both the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT) and the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT) defended in parliament before the adoption of the law that the two regimes are distinct and were against inclusion in the new legal regime.

According to Ivo Fernandes, the law also hurts competition between the two sectors, reminding not only the opinion of the association, but of the Competition Authority itself, which, in an opinion in June, explains “what are the points where competition is distorted and has to do with the fact that taxis, because they make a public service, are entitled to certain support, namely support for the purchase of vehicles and support for the operation, public support”.

“ And it competes directly, because the taxi will be able to sign up on the platform as TVDE and compete directly. The client will be able to call a TVDE, and a taxi will appear. And so it is this competition that is obviously distorted,” he warned.

According to Ivo Fernandes they operate as TVDE 38,000 vehicles, while in the taxi sector they operate “nearly 13 thousand, that is, one third of the size”, eventually demonstrating that it has “also through its history, a more significant influence. And why? Precisely by the way of work ", considered.

For this reason, Ivo Fernandes added that he will work to move to a higher body to verify that “this service in which state support is given to an operator competing in the liberalised market is illegal in the light of the European Union”.

Vítor Soares, president of the National Movement Association TVDE (ANM-TVDE), who had also urged the Government to “promote fairer and more balanced mobility” for all operators, taxis and TVDE, without “creating privileges between sectors operating in the same market”, was more resigned with promulgation.

“ For us, the main concern is the user,” he said, calling for “no more denigrating the TVDE sector,” recalling that the user when he calls a TVDE and “shows him a taxi, if he thinks he should not be transported by a taxi, he can cancel the trip, have two minutes to do so and request another car”.

According to Vítor Soares “we have to accept the decision of the President of the Republic and that the two sectors work together and respect the client himself”.