Albuquerque considers excess demand a good symptom.
The president of the Regional Government disagrees with the president of the Funchal City Council, who went public to demand serious work from the competent entities in order to create rules that regulate the rent-a-car activity in the Region.
Faced with the alleged “complete deregulation” denounced by Pedro Calado, Miguel Albuquerque responded that the excess demand seen in this sector of economic activity “is good”.
Even admitting that it may be necessary to regulate something, he says that “what is needed more than regulating is complying with the legislation”, referring to the possibility of there being “some clandestine or illegal activity”. Therefore, he considers it more important than imposing rules to “sanction” those who transgress, he said on the sidelines of a visit to the company in São Martinho, Funchal.
Albuquerque distanced himself from the opinion of the mayor of Funchal, who had demanded “some care” in order to “regulate and discipline” the rent-a-car activity, to the point of having stated that “it is urgent that we work in this situation, but we work seriously ”.
The head of the regional executive maintains that the rent-a-car companies operating in the Region are “legalized and work under the law”. Even with regard to requirements such as car fleet parking locations, he considers that the legislation defines the relevant criteria, concluding that what is important to do is just “strengthen supervision”. He added that “the Economic Inspection is already acting in this direction”.
Pedro Calado had warned on Friday that “it is urgent that we stop for a moment, see how the market is working and create serious regulation in this sector, otherwise we will all end up harming ourselves”, he warns. He pointed to the example of TVDE, which was subject to its own regulation in the Region, through the Uber Law that limits it to just 40 TVDE in Madeira.