Taxi Vouchers For Visitors
Lisbon’s Tourist Board has launched a taxi voucher scheme to provide local visitors with some basic consumer protection regarding price. The decision to launch this new payment system was taken following a large number of complaints presented by tourists to the Portuguese Authority for Economy and Food Safety (ASAE).
Between January and June 2006 the ASAE received some 100 complaints from tourists relating to rudeness and dishonest behaviour of taxi drivers. Most of the complaints were triggered by speculative prices; in some cases the tourist had been asked to pay twice the amount of money due for the taxi ride.
Others were related to the refusal of the taxi driver to give a receipt for the amount paid, as well as some cases in which the tourists were asked to pay an airport surcharge, which is illegal in Portugal.
Last year, ASAE officers posing as tourists carried out several surprise inspections which resulted in the detention of three taxi drivers caught swindling tourists in Lisbon. With the new system Portuguese authorities intend to reduce considerably the number of complaints.
As its name suggests, the taxi voucher is a pre-payment scheme that guarantees a fixed tariff for journeys not just in Lisbon but to countrywide towns, cities and regions such as Oporto and the Algarve.
Lisbon is divided into three taxi voucher zones, with respective day and night-time rates.
The bottom line is that journeys between Lisbon airport and any chosen location within the city are capped at a fixed rate of just over 20 euros, while visitors travelling to Estoril, Cascais and Sintra should not expect to pay more than around 40 euros and a bit more at night.
Taxi vouchers can be purchased at the Lisbon Tourism booth located in the arrivals hall at Lisbon Airport (tel: +351 218 450 660). It should also be noted that taxis operating under the scheme are subject to a strict code of quality and driver conduct. In Lisbon there are 3,490 taxis, of which 250 operate in the Lisbon Airport area.
Between January and June 2006 the ASAE received some 100 complaints from tourists relating to rudeness and dishonest behaviour of taxi drivers. Most of the complaints were triggered by speculative prices; in some cases the tourist had been asked to pay twice the amount of money due for the taxi ride.
Others were related to the refusal of the taxi driver to give a receipt for the amount paid, as well as some cases in which the tourists were asked to pay an airport surcharge, which is illegal in Portugal.
Last year, ASAE officers posing as tourists carried out several surprise inspections which resulted in the detention of three taxi drivers caught swindling tourists in Lisbon. With the new system Portuguese authorities intend to reduce considerably the number of complaints.
As its name suggests, the taxi voucher is a pre-payment scheme that guarantees a fixed tariff for journeys not just in Lisbon but to countrywide towns, cities and regions such as Oporto and the Algarve.
Lisbon is divided into three taxi voucher zones, with respective day and night-time rates.
The bottom line is that journeys between Lisbon airport and any chosen location within the city are capped at a fixed rate of just over 20 euros, while visitors travelling to Estoril, Cascais and Sintra should not expect to pay more than around 40 euros and a bit more at night.
Taxi vouchers can be purchased at the Lisbon Tourism booth located in the arrivals hall at Lisbon Airport (tel: +351 218 450 660). It should also be noted that taxis operating under the scheme are subject to a strict code of quality and driver conduct. In Lisbon there are 3,490 taxis, of which 250 operate in the Lisbon Airport area.
posted by Co-op Travel Direct at
3:55 AM
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