Uber Portugal makes a positive report on 10 years but recognizes the discontent of some drivers

Francisco Vilaça was speaking to journalists during the presentation of Uber’s 10th anniversary in Portugal, a ceremony in which it was revealed that the platform, the first to operate in the country, carried out 200 million trips in 195 Portuguese cities, made by 12 million passengers from 150 nationalities.

“Looking at the 10 years of Uber Portugal we see that official data from the National Statistics Institute demonstrate that the occasional travel sector in passenger vehicles has grown significantly. It was a growth in turnover, in tax collection, in the number of companies, in net jobs created”, he explained.

According to the person responsible for Uber’s mobility area, since 2014 “the sector has grown”, also thanks to Uber’s contribution “to making these mobility solutions available to users who needed them, who were looking for them and who thereby created an entire sector to provide the service.”

According to Francisco Vilaça, the entry of the company and TVDE (Individual Passenger Transport in Uncharacterized Vehicle) in Portugal “tripled the turnover of occasional passenger transport in light vehicles, an increase of 480 million euros”.

Furthermore, according to the person responsible, during this decade of operation Uber created “13 thousand net jobs, currently 28 thousand”.

As a curiosity, Francisco Vilaça announced that “the most active user of the platform has already made more than nine thousand trips” and the “longest trip was between Lisbon and the south of France”.

Asked about the stoppages of TVDE drivers in recent times for better working conditions, and on the eve of yet another protest, Francisco Vilaça reiterated that the company “respects all the right to demonstrate”, adding that it heard “all requests and all needs that industry players have”.

“It is important to emphasize that we always work to direct and respond to these needs. The need for increased income comes, not just from a certain rate, because we are talking about an industry in which we have found demand – which is the great service that the platform provides -, and the generation of demand for mobility and service needs provided”, he pointed out.

The person responsible also highlighted that “it is through ensuring that there are trips priced correctly for demand to exist, and then supply [dos serviços] can be provided.”

“It is always in this balance that we can increase numbers, we work to improve tariffs, [mas] Increasing tariffs does not necessarily mean increasing income and that is the work that must be done”, he highlighted.

The person in charge recalled that the company has received “all participants in the industry” in order to talk “about all the topics put on the table and the plans announced”.

To celebrate a decade, the platform announced the launch of a new travel option, UberX Share, which allows users to save up to 30% in costs if they share the trip with other users who choose the same option.

Francisco Vilaça gave an example with a trip for someone traveling from Campo Grande to Cais do Sodré and who could pick up a user at Saldanha and another at Almirante Reis, until they reach their destination, and thus have a cheaper trip and have a choice more sustainable, and the travel time will not exceed eight minutes of the total planned.

For the driver, and according to the person in charge, this option is the “equivalent of taking a longer UberX trip”, but it could increase the “target audience for your transport services by pairing trips and people”.

Regarding the issue of the existence of foreign drivers driving for the platforms, Francisco Vilaça explained that data from the Mobility and Transport Institute (IMT) from 2023 reveal that “70% to 80% of drivers were Portuguese-speaking or came from Portuguese-speaking countries”.

The person in charge highlighted that access to the Uber platform “meets extremely demanding document verification requirements, ensuring that those who provide services through the platform are qualified”.

Among the documents requested is the driving license, which is verified by the services, in addition to the TVDE license issued by the IMT and the criminal record which is checked every three months, he explained.