The proposal presented by APTAD to the Government proposes measures to ensure fair minimum rates, economic sustainability, daily and weekly availability limits for drivers, minimum occupancy rates per platform, a ban on registering new vehicles if the platform is below the minimum, and greater structural separation between operators and electronic platforms.

According to APTAD president Ivo Miguel Fernandes, the law regulating the sector, enacted in 2018 and never revised since, "causes significant imbalances between the platforms, the Individual and Remunerated Passenger Transportation in Unmarked Vehicles using Electronic Platforms (TVDE) operators, and the drivers, who are on the front lines and provide the service."

"There is an imbalance that has been causing a complete crushing of the operators, who feel overwhelmed and end up passing on much of the business risk to the drivers," the APTAD president told Lusa.

Over worked

Drivers work "well beyond 40 hours a week to earn an income, but most of the time, the income they earn is less than the national minimum wage, which is completely unacceptable because it causes a degradation of the sector and a devaluation of the workforce," he added.

Ivo Miguel Fernandes highlighted "two fundamental pillars" of the proposed amendment to Law No. 45/2018 (TVDE), which APTAD submitted to the State Secretariat for Mobility. If considered by the Government, these would rebalance the relationship between platforms and operators. These include the establishment of a minimum fare, which would prevent platforms from selling the services provided by operators below cost.

The second pillar of APTAD's proposal, the executive added, involves "ensuring a balance between supply and demand through an occupancy rate model that ensures that the vehicles serving the platforms are actually working."

"Our proposals are very much in line with those in the Mobility and Transport Authority's reports. We are confident—we don't even believe otherwise—that the proposal the Government will present to reform this legislation will, of course, be in line with what we and the Mobility and Transport Authority advocate. We were assured that the Government would present this proposal in the coming weeks and before the end of the year," concluded the APTAD official.