In a response sent to Lusa, an official source from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action (MAAC) said that "a new ordinance will be published this month that will detail the change".

According to ordinance 294/2018, the registration of new taxis is limited to vehicles with a maximum of 10 years old, a mandatory condition for all vehicles from January 1, 2024, with the transitional regime for all taxis to be could adapt to the age limit would “be in force until December 31, 2023”.

"Given the economic difficulties resulting from the [Covid-19] pandemic, the global energy crisis and the effects of the war in Ukraine, which on the one hand, left the taxi sector with little capacity to make the necessary investments for the renewal of fleet and, on the other hand, created disruption in supply chains, generating problems with the industry's response in the supply of goods, associations representing the taxi sector came to draw attention to the difficulties they were experiencing in renewing fleets", indicates the Ministry.

In this way, "sensitive to the arguments presented by the sector, and to ensure that there will be no disruption in the public taxi service, we will proceed, with absolute exceptionality, to extend, for another two years, until December 2025, the transitional period for compliance with the age limit that was previously established", is added in the note.

On November 1, the new legal regime for the transport of passengers by taxi came into force, applicable to the entire national territory, reaffirming its public service function and reintroducing the updated concept of suitability, as one of the essential requirements for carrying out the activity.