The Portuguese Parliament approved on Friday (17) the biggest revision of the law on TVDEThe new regulations governing drivers for ride-hailing apps like Uber include a requirement for drivers to demonstrate "functional proficiency in the Portuguese language," a requirement not present in the law in effect since 2018.
Change has an impact. directly about Brazilians Those who work or intend to work as drivers in the country. Native speakers of the language automatically meet the new requirement, while candidates who do not speak Portuguese, such as Indians, will need to prove their eligibility.
What changes for drivers
The new legislation mandates that future drivers undergo a minimum initial training of 50 hours, including both theoretical and practical components. After the course, candidates face a final exam with 30 questions and must answer at least 27 correctly to pass.
The bills, presented by PSD and CDS-PP, passed with votes in favor from PSD, Chega, CDS-PP and JPP. PS, IL, Livre, PCP and BE voted against, and PAN abstained.
Taxis enter the system and fines increase.
The revision also opens the door for taxis to register for ride-hailing services, provided they meet the sector's vehicle requirements and register on a licensed platform. This measure was the most contested during the legislative process.
The maximum age for vehicles increases from seven to ten years (twelve in the case of electric vehicles), and the sticker identifying ride-hailing vehicles will become fixed and tamper-proof, with a hologram issued by the government, replacing the removable sticker used today. Fines for companies can reach €44.000, well above the current limit of €15.000.
The law also eliminates the dynamic pricing limit, which currently cannot exceed 100% of the average of the previous 72 hours, and maintains the platform intermediation fee at a maximum of 25%, calculated on the value of the trip excluding VAT.
This text is not yet in effect.
The bill will now go to the final drafting stage and will then be sent to the President of the Republic, who will decide on its promulgation. The rules will only come into effect after this stage. (With information from the Lusa news agency)
What is TVDE?
It's the Portuguese acronym for passenger transport contracted through an app, like Uber. With the new law, the official name becomes "remunerated passenger transport in electronically available vehicles." It's the equivalent, in Portugal, to what Brazilians call an "app driver."
