The Lisbon City Council wants to charge a fee of one euro for each taxi service at the airport
The city of Lisbon wants to pay a tax of one euro to each taxi driver going to the airport Humberto Delgado to improve access to the latter but also the portfolio of the City Council, says the Jornal Economico in his printed edition. According to the Portuguese daily, the issue is being discussed in the negotiations on the new passenger car access regulation at Lisbon airport. The objective according to the City Council is to ensure the sustainability of the management of taxi places in the Portuguese capital. The president of the Lisbon taxi trade union, Antral, says that "the Lisbon City Council already receives 600,000 euros a year to manage areas dedicated to Lisbon taxis". This new tax would obviously be passed on to customers who would take a taxi from or to Lisbon airport. Where are the discussions ? Why introduce this new tax of one euro ? Lisbob, the expatriate's assistant in Portugal, tells you all about this new tax of one euro.
All these passengers and taxi could bring money to Lisbon
The current regulation not applied
A regulation was approved about four years ago by all stakeholders - from the city of Lisbon, the ANA (airport manager belonging to the French group Vinci), the PSP police and associations representing taxi drivers such as than the Portuguese Federation of Taxis - which has never been put into practice.
For this reason, the Marie de Lisboa led by Fernando Medina wanted to start a new round of negotiations with all entities, with the aim of disciplining the access of cars to the arrival and departure areas of the Lisbon airport. An official source from the city of Lisbon confirmed to Jornal Economico that "there will be a public discussion phase".
Lisbon city council could vote for a new tax
A new tax of one euro that is not unanimous
However, with regard to the specific subject of levying one euro to each taxi driver traveling to or from the airport, the City Council stated that the parties still discussed the issue, saying that "there is a possibility of to apply it, but it is premature to talk about it. "
The consensus on this new regulation is not total. Florêncio de Almeida, president of Antral, an organization claiming to represent 80% of Lisbon taxi drivers, told the Jornal Economico to be against the proposal - "The Lisbon City Council wants to receive one euro, paid in the end by the used, for every taxi service leaving or going to the airport and I do not agree with that, in other words, the taxi must charge, but that amount will be charged to each passenger ". The president of the Antral also stressed that "the Lisbon City Council already receives 600,000 euros a year to manage the spaces that taxis occupy in Lisbon".
Article translated from website Observador.pt
Lisbob's opinion : A new tax that is not surprising considering the current context. The city of Lisbon wants to make the most of its golden goose, but does not offer solutions to improve and decongest access to the airport of the Portuguese capital. The reaction of taxi drivers of Lisbon is not surprising but ultimately consensual : it is not their wallet is affected.