The Government will create an online platform to speed up the payment of the Social Mobility Allowance for autonomous regions, allowing passengers to receive a “refund of the price of the trip immediately after purchasing the flight”, the executive announced today.
In a statement, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing says it is “in a position” to move forward with “a range of changes” to the social mobility subsidy, at a time when the work of the group created to study the revision of the model is in the “conclusion phase”.
Among the changes is the “provision of an electronic platform accessible online to citizens and with storage of eligibility data”.
The Government guarantees “speed in the payment process through the electronic platform that will allow you to receive a refund of the price of the trip immediately after purchasing the flight”.
“The government team will now initiate the process of regulating this new mechanism and building the new electronic platform, with a view to making the new access rules available as quickly as possible,” reads the statement.
According to an ordinance from the Ministries of Finance and Infrastructure published today in the Official Gazette, the value of the social mobility subsidy to be granted by the State to residents, equivalent residents and students on trips between the Azores and the mainland and between the Azores and Madeira will have, on Friday, “a maximum eligible cost of 600 euros”.
In the Azores, the subsidy allows residents of the archipelago to travel to the mainland with a maximum airfare of 134 euros (round trip). However, it is necessary to initially purchase the ticket at the retail price and, after the trip, any amount above this target of 134 euros is reimbursed by the State.
With the change now introduced, if the sale price of the trip is higher than 600 euros, the passenger will be responsible for paying the amount above that limit (in addition to 134 euros).
In Madeira, airline tickets already had a maximum eligible cost of 400 euros for access to the social mobility subsidy.
In the note, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing argues that the implementation of a “maximum limit on the cost of the ticket” promotes “equity between autonomous regions” and admits the possibility of reducing the “fixed amount to be paid by each passenger” residing in the Azores.
“The final model, still in the final stages, may also consider a reduction in the fixed amount to be paid by each passenger in the Azores and the clarification of the ceiling for passengers originating in Porto Santo”, says the executive.
The ordinance published today, which comes into force on Friday, also establishes a maximum value for the ticket issuance fee, for eligibility purposes, “of 35 euros, for one-way tickets (OW), and 70 euros, for round-trip tickets (RT)”.