The Uber transport service, so feared by Lisbon and Oporto’s taxi drivers when looking at their financial futures, has arrived in the Algarve and officially is operating as from Tuesday 7th June.
The app-based service will stay local during its test phase aims to take full advantage of those wishing to travel in the Faro, Vilamoura and Albufeira areas but there has been interferece from the government which managed to suspend the website on launch. http://uberportugal.pt/ now is working
Uber’s management for Portugal reports that due to tourist numbers and demand patterns, a large number of 'people carriers' will be available for up to seven passengers at a time.
The pilot phase started and will continue until the late summer. Taxi services and transfer operators have yet to react to today’s Uber launch, but the Uber.com website was blocked on launch, 'by judicial order' with the message 'O site a que se pretende aceder encontra-se bloqueado na sequência do cumprimento de ordem judicial' - so one can assume the fight is on. Uber.pt leads to a message saying 'site under construction' but uberportugal is working OK.
Uber is offering two services for Algarve passengers, the basic and low-cost UberX service, and uberXL which provides vehicles with room for seven passengers.
A continuation of the stiff opposition to Uber’s cheaper, faster business model has started with the website suspension, following on from the taxi drivers’ Lisbon, Oporto and Faro protests in April which aimed to put pressure on the government to uphold a court ban on Uber’s operations.
The government is caught in the headlights over Uber as the Ministry of the Economy wants to be seen to have a progressive style when new technology is introduced, especially tried and tested businesses such as Uber, yet is hauled back to the past with swathes of legislation bogging down the fairly simple business of driving a taxi in Portugal.
The taxi drivers are as much protesting about the bureaucratic straight-jacket that pins them to their seats, as the arrival of a fresh new web-based threat to their livings.
The president of the Mobility and Transport Authority announced to the Economy, Innovation and Public Works committee on May 11th that the Uber transport service in Portugal is operating illegally "for various reasons."
"It is clear and simple that Uber is outside the law. We must comply with the decision of the courts or fail to follow the rule of law," said João Carvalho, the president of regulator who the week before had delivered his opinion to the Ministry of the Environment which covers private passenger transport.
The Mobility and Transport Authority says that Uber “has to enter the current legislative framework” but added that the opinion it gave to the Government draws attention to the need to accept new forms of transport and mobility and that it "is open to innovations that translate into more competition."
It rather confused matters when the taxi drivers union ANTRAL took the wrong Uber to court to have the business in Portugal banned from operating, as Uber Inc in the US has no formal link to Uber in Portugal. This, coupled with the government's muddled announcements,has not helped matters and the service continues 'illegally,' yet unmolested by traffic police.
Uber claims it is willing to talk with taxi drivers and that there is room for both services in large urban markets.
Negotiations have yet to be held but one thing alone will sort out the current legal muddle: the customer. If the Uber service is well liked and well used in the Algarve region as well as in the cities to the north, customer demand will determine which business model he or she is happiest with.
