This Tuesday, the new law that modifies the TVDE regime in Portugal came into force, with the acronym now standing for "remunerated transport of passengers in electronically provided vehicles." Law No. 59/2026, which comes eight years after the first regulation of the activity, modifies the previous Law No. 45/2018 and abandons the reference to unbranded vehicles, in a context marked by opposition from representative associations of the sectors involved.
The representative structures of TVDE operators and the taxi sector expressed strong opposition to the new legislation. APTAD asked the President of the Republic to veto the bill and warned of a "serious and objectively verifiable error," which includes two contradictory effective dates and two misaligned transitional regimes. Associations such as ANTRAL and the Portuguese Taxi Federation will request the Constitutional Court to review the law, considering that it creates "unjustified competitive advantage" and "inequality between operators."
The main change that generated the most opposition was the possibility for taxis to register for TVDE activity, provided they meet the applicable requirements and are registered with a licensed electronic platform manager. The Authority for Mobility and Transport and the Institute of Mobility and Transport expressed opposition to this integration, arguing that the two regimes are distinct, and the Secretary of State for Mobility acknowledged that the convergence raises challenges and cannot undermine the public service provided by taxis.
Among other novelties, the law introduces an immovable identification badge with anti-fraud security elements, issued by IMT, allows optional video recording inside vehicles with the consent of driver and passenger (without audio capture), and requires future drivers to complete a minimum initial training of 50 hours, with theoretical and practical components, followed by a final examination.
