In statements to Lusa, the Secretary of State for Mobility, Cristina Pinto Dias, explained that the initial financial allocation for the notice, launched today by the Government, is "500 thousand euros, an amount that may be reinforced taking into account the effective demand and the availability of the Transport Fund".

The public notice for applications for support for the Decarbonisation and Digitalisation of the taxi sector for 2024 is launched today by the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT), through the Fund for the Public Transport Service, and will be available from Tuesday.

Within the scope of decarbonisation, the support will benefit the acquisition of 100% electric vehicles and their respective charging equipment, and may be complemented with support for the scrapping of old vehicles.

According to Cristina Pinto Dias, this is a "clear commitment" by the Government to decarbonisation, for the acquisition of 100% electric vehicles, and is also working on the digitalisation component.

"From tomorrow [Tuesday] and until 6 pm on 31 October, all applications will be welcome. This year we are launching this notice one month earlier than the previous Government, in the expectation of giving the market more time to react, following a very expressive adhesion in 2023. And we are going to start this initial allocation with double the amount that was issued last year", she explained.

The Secretary of State recalled that mobility is responsible "for about 25% of greenhouse gases at European level", and is also "one of the largest consumers of energy from petroleum sources, with all the consequences that this entails".

In this sense, the Government is "in a bit of a race against time", taking into account the 2030 target "of reducing greenhouse gases in the transport sector, specifically by 40%", she added.

With the increase in the supply of public transport as a government target, Cristina Pinto Dias identified that she intends to give "clear priority to decarbonised fleets, to zero-emission fleets to fulfil the purpose".

"Naturally, the public taxi passenger transport service assumes a very relevant position in this chain. The Government also recognises that it has a central role in the mobility of low population density regions. And I recall that 60% of our municipalities are in low density territories", she explained.

Thus, she said, the taxi "ends up being a natural preferential choice [in these regions], both because it is a universal transport, and because it is available, flexible and [...] provides the comfort and safety that people in these regions need when they need mobility".

Cristina Pinto Dias also indicated that the fleet in Portugal currently has 12,000 licensed taxis, of which 145 are 100% electric vehicles, i.e. the fleet is "1.2% decarbonised".

The Secretary of State for Mobility also recalled that by the end of 2025, according to the law in force, licensed taxis over 10 years old will not be allowed to circulate.

"Therefore, there is a very expressive work here and it has to happen in a short space of time", she stressed.

According to the notice, there is a support of five thousand euros per unit for the purchase of electric taxis, for vehicles purchased from 1 January 2024 and a support per vehicle of 7,500 euros if a vehicle over 10 years old is scrapped with the purchase of an electric vehicle or 10 thousand euros if the scrapped vehicle is over 12 years old.

As for incentives for Charging Equipment, candidates can receive up to one thousand euros per application to co-finance, at 100%, the purchase of the equipment.

In the area of Digitalisation and Electronic Tools, up to 50% of the purchases of taximeters, invoice printers, electronic applications for charging or devices for issuing or sending invoices by 'e-mail' will be co-financed, up to a value of five thousand euros.

Urban Mobility, with the new Government of the Democratic Alliance (a pre-electoral coalition that brought together PSD, CDS-PP and PPM), became dependent on the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing, led by Miguel Pinto Luz, having left the scope of the Ministry of the Environment.

Read Also: IL/Açores presents draft resolution to change the colour of taxis (Portuguese version)