Lisbon, Jan. 16, 2026 (Lusa) - Ride-hailing drivers will intermittently shut down the Uber and Bolt platform applications next week during the morning rush hour, as part of a protest action promoted by the Somos TVDE Civic Movement against the lack of regulation in the sector.
"Drivers will be able to continue working through this action; they will simply turn off one of the platforms," explained Fernando Vilhais, general coordinator of the Somos TVDE Civic Movement, in statements to the Lusa news agency.
The protest initiative will take place from Monday until 24 January, between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., with ride-hailing drivers (individual, paid passenger transport in unmarked vehicles via an electronic platform) disconnecting from Uber on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from Bolt on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
With the slogan "STOP: Uber/Bolt - No drivers, no rides!", the protest will take place across the country, but it is expected that the impact, including disruptions to travel services, will be felt mainly in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, "where people move around more and where there is a greater concentration of drivers," said Fernando Vilhais, emphasising that this action does not mean a total shutdown of the ride-hailing service.
"The platforms currently have the capacity to systematically reduce prices to gain market share, and what has already been proven is that this is all done basically through the efforts of the drivers. [...] As long as this model is in place, incomes will always, always, always be reduced," said the spokesperson for the Somos ride-hailing Civic Movement.
Fernando Vilhais added that platforms such as Uber and Bolt say they are guaranteed 25% of the value of the journeys, regardless of the price being charged in the market, noting that ride-hailing operators invest in vehicles and hire drivers, but it is the platforms that act, both on operators and drivers, "as if they were responsible or had the capacity to be an employer for the entire sector".
"And that is not permitted by law," denounced the representative of the ride-hailing sector, indicating that the current situation is the result of "poor regulation of the law" and reinforcing the "urgency" of reviewing the legislation in force in parliament.
Therefore, the protest aims to "show the platforms that they cannot act with impunity and impose all the rules," emphasised Fernando Vilhais, reiterating that drivers will continue to work during this protest, alternating between Uber and Bolt, thus protecting workers who are in a fragile situation, as well as ensuring the provision of travel services to customers.
In response to Lusa, an official source from Uber said that the company respects the right to protest and stated that "all drivers who use the app can freely decide when, where and how they want to use it", without specifying the expected impact of the protest.
Uber highlighted the sector's growth dynamics, considering that "it is a clear indicator that ride-hailing is attractive, not only in terms of the nature of the activity, but also in terms of income," and emphasised that the platform regularly listens to drivers and fleet partners to continuously improve their experience with the app.
The coordinator of the Somos TVDE Civic Movement said that the protest "is within the reach of any driver" because there is autonomy to choose the platform with which to make trips, calling for "a collective criterion" to be adopted during this action to alternately disconnect the Uber and Bolt platforms "as a cry of alarm in the face of persistent job insecurity," demanding decent working conditions and "more equitable regulation capable of balancing the interests of all stakeholders."
This will be the first protest action by the Somos TVDE Civic Movement, created in October 2025, which aims to bring together all ride-hailing drivers, in particular the 80% who work independently, explained Fernando Vilhais.
Dismissing the claim that the movement, which "is still relatively small," wants to establish itself as an association for the ride-hailing sector, the coordinator said that the idea is to "add value" to the two existing associations, the Portuguese Association of Unmarked Car Transporters (APTAD) and the National Association Movement - TVDE (ANM-TVDE), "so that the common cause gains greater expression within society."
SSM/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
