Portugal's new taxi tariff rules take effect 23 October, with taximeters given until mid-January 2027

What takes effect on 23 October

Regulation n.º 1324-A/2026, published on 13 October, revokes the earlier regulation 717/2026 and enters into force on Friday, 23 October 2026. The Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT) drew up the rules after hearing the sector's representative associations. The original text was published on 3 June and then suspended for 60 days so that associations could submit proposals for amendment. Taximeters have 90 days to adapt, a window that runs to mid-January 2027. The framework introduces a lower flag fare, with variable rates based on time and distance that can rise during festive periods.

Tariff structure

The regulator says it wants a system that is simpler, more transparent and easier to understand for users, industry professionals and public bodies. The rules simplify how prices are formed and set a reference tariff built on the normal calculation mode D. According to the regulation, this mode should create a more direct link between time and distance, reduce uncertainty in estimating trip values, and support technology for price estimation and booking. The text also says common rules do not exclude territorial differences in demand, operating conditions, distances travelled, mobility patterns and economic context.

Federation warns about rural taxis

The Portuguese Taxi Federation (FPT) warned on 22 October that the new tariff regulation puts the survival of taxis in low-density areas at risk and asked for changes. On Wednesday, 21 October, the federation delivered a concrete proposal to correct the regulation to the office of the Secretary of State for Mobility. The FPT says the AMT accepted the associations' operational proposals but not those of the economic core, so first-year prices stay exactly those of the suspended regulation. In mid-October the federation met the AMT together with ANTRAL to hear the response to proposals sent on 30 June. The regulator did not hand over the final text, and the associations were told their proposals had been 'generally welcomed'.

In the villages and towns of the interior, the taxi takes elderly people to appointments, patients to treatments and children to school.

The federation adds that the regulation removes about 45% of the per-kilometre value for operators in rural areas, while making taxis dearer in cities, which leaves the interior with less transport.

What changes for fares

The FPT says that in practice nothing changes for passengers on Friday, because taximeters must be reprogrammed and the regulation lacks the technical conditions for the new tariffs to be built. Most taxis will therefore keep charging the current tariff, including the luggage supplement. The federation also notes that the price per kilometre becomes single across the whole country, which removes the empty-return tariff at once. Vehicles working on tariff 3 would move from €1.06 to €0.58 per kilometre, a 45% reduction according to the FPT.

Simulations by the associations, presented by the FPT, show the average value per service rising 24.9% in Lisbon city and 15.5% in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The same simulations show a rise of 9.3% in municipalities working tariffs 1 and 3, and a fall of 15.9% in municipalities working only tariff 3. The federation has asked for the regulation to be corrected, and taximeter adaptation runs to mid-January 2027.