Key figures — as of 2026-08-24: President António José Seguro promulgated the revised TVDE law on 18 August 2026 — it takes effect the 1st of the month after publication in Diário da República; new drivers must complete 50 hours of initial training that now verifies a "functional command of Portuguese"; the certification exam requires at least 27 correct answers out of 30 (90%); company fines under the reformed regime can now reach €44,000.
The single biggest change: Portuguese is now a licence condition
Portugal's ride-hailing sector just got its first serious rulebook rewrite since Uber and Bolt arrived. Drivers are now obliged to master the Portuguese language, a proposal from Chega that was approved by the PSD in the parliamentary committee, with the final text stating that the driver training course must verify a "functional command of the Portuguese language" suited to the job. For the tens of thousands of foreign-born drivers who carry passengers around Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve every day, that single clause turns a language skill into a condition of employment.
The bills reforming the legal regime for paid passenger transport were approved in the final global vote, with PSD, Chega, CDS-PP and JPP voting in favour, PS, IL, Livre, PCP and BE voting against, and PAN abstaining. President António José Seguro promulgated the decree amending Law 45/2018, which governs TVDE activity, on the Tuesday before 19 August 2026. The reaction from the sector itself has been cool: one industry representative told Lusa that "the TVDE sector will end up continuing this saga of being a highly wronged sector, completely under the platforms' control."
What the training and exam actually involve
This isn't just a language rule bolted onto an existing system — the whole certification process is being tightened. The new legislation establishes that future TVDE drivers will have to attend a "minimum initial training of 50 hours," combining theory and practice, followed by a final exam made up of 30 questions. Passing requires at least 27 correct answers.
That written exam is itself a novelty for the sector. Under the old rules, taxi drivers sat a compulsory written test while TVDE drivers only completed training assessed by whoever delivered it — taxi drivers had a mandatory exam while TVDE drivers had training assessed by whoever gave it, and now TVDE drivers face a written exam at the IMT, or an entity licensed by the IMT, with 30 questions requiring 27 correct. The reform effectively brings TVDE certification into line with the taxi trade — something neither side of the debate is entirely happy about.
The trigger for the language clause, according to reporting from before the final vote, was rider frustration rather than an abstract nationalist policy goal: the proposal responds to repeated complaints from passengers about difficulties communicating with drivers, particularly during journeys involving route changes, safety concerns or emergencies.
When it actually bites
Nobody should assume this starts tomorrow. Although the changes have already been approved by the Assembly of the Republic, they are not yet in force — the decree must first be promulgated by the President and published in the Diário da República, and under the approved text the new law takes effect on the first day of the month following its publication. Some elements will need further detail: certain measures may depend on additional regulation before they can be fully applied. With promulgation confirmed in mid-August, publication and a 1 September or 1 October start date are the realistic windows — worth checking directly with IMT (imt-ip.pt) once the decree appears in the gazette.
GrowIN analysis: the real bill for a new driver
Nobody has published an official cost estimate for compliance, so here's ours. Training packages advertised by platform-linked academies run from roughly €175–€210 for the 50-hour course. Assume a driver forgoing an average of €7–€8 an hour in potential fares while sitting through those 50 hours instead of working — that's a further €350–€400 in lost earning capacity. Add exam-prep materials (commonly sold from around €20) and a driver entering the profession from scratch could be looking at €550–€650 in combined course fees and forgone income before they earn a single euro on the road. For someone already supporting a household on ride-hailing income, that's a meaningful up-front hurdle, not a bureaucratic footnote.
As GrowIN Portugal Editorial puts it: a licence to drive in Portugal is quietly becoming a licence to speak Portuguese.
What's still unclear for existing drivers
The reporting so far focuses on new entrants to the profession — those completing initial training going forward. It remains to be confirmed whether drivers already holding a valid TVDE certificate, which runs for five years with an 8-hour refresher course at renewal, will have the Portuguese check applied retroactively at their next renewal, or only to fresh applicants. Several details will still be set out by government order (portaria), so this is precisely the kind of gap where drivers should wait for IMT guidance rather than assume the worst — or the best.
Other changes bundled into the same law matter for the wider immigrant driver community too: taxis can now register to operate as TVDE if they meet the applicable requirements and join a licensed digital platform, dynamic pricing caps disappear, and the 25% intermediation fee charged by platforms is now calculated on the trip value excluding VAT — a detail that affects driver take-home pay regardless of nationality.
What to do now
If you're driving for Uber, Bolt or Free Now on a residence permit, don't wait for a fine to find out where you stand. Confirm your certificate's expiry date, check whether your training provider already builds a Portuguese assessment into its course, and keep an eye on the IMT and Diário da República for the exact commencement date and any transitional rules for existing drivers. Anyone still building the language skills needed should treat this as motivation rather than a threat — a functional grasp of Portuguese pays off far beyond the driver's seat. For broader questions about work rights and residence permits tied to employment in Portugal, our visas hub is a useful starting point.
The bigger picture is simple enough: Portugal has decided that moving people around for money now comes with a minimum bar of being understood by the people you're moving. Drivers, fleets and passengers alike are about to find out exactly how that bar gets enforced.