The mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), is expected to sanction this Tuesday (9) the bill that allows offering motorcycle taxi rides and, the next day, publish the decree regulating this modality, in accordance with a court decision.
However, the mayor told the Leaf we are still awaiting a favorable decision from the STF (Federal Supreme Court), allowing the municipality to prohibit the service.
“I very much hope that the STF will recognize the legitimacy of the town hall in banning it. If this does not happen by the 10th (Wednesday), then I will publish the decree, but, for that, I need the law to be sanctioned first. So I have to sanction the law tomorrow (Tuesday), “said Nunes, a few minutes after the Chamber approved on Monday evening (8), in the second round, the project that regulates motorcycle taxis in the capital.
Along with the mayor’s hopes, companies like Uber and 99 maintain the plan to operate the platform starting this Thursday, a day after the end of the deadline imposed by the courts on the Nunes administration.
Even if he sanctions the law and publishes the regulatory decree by Wednesday, Nunes reiterates that application companies and motorcyclists will only be able to operate after having complied with all the necessary accreditation procedures.
The text, approved by the City Council, contains bureaucracies that open loopholes to delay the start of sport in the capital.
To obtain accreditation, motorcyclists must complete and pass a specialized course for carrying passengers on motorcycles certified by Contran (National Traffic Council).
Another measure, highly contested by application publishers, is the need to change the license plate of motorcycles, which goes from gray (private use) to red (vehicles used for paid transport of goods or passengers).
The draft also gives the town hall up to 60 days to evaluate all documentation and, if necessary, request more documents before granting permission to the motorcyclist to perform the races.
On the 3rd, Nunes had already given instructions for the town hall to act to curb activity on the 11th.
“If by chance we lose (at the STF), they will have to follow all our accreditation rules, which provide for training, registration and a series of security issues to be discussed. Companies, which are hungry for money, must understand that they cannot start on the 11th,” Nunes said at the time.
Unlike motorcycle taxis, Nunes and the app companies have been at war since earlier this year, when 99 and Uber began offering rides, ignoring a 2023 city ordinance.
Representing application companies, Amobitec (Brazilian Association of Mobility and Technology) did not make any comments after the approval of the project in the Chamber. In a note last week, the association indicated that the text aims to “block the departure of the category by requiring prior accreditation of companies and motorcyclists, with an analysis period of up to 60 days and the possibility of an unlimited extension of this period by the town hall, which allows the municipality not to authorize any application or driver”.
The companies also said the requirements go beyond the legislation, making operation of the service impractical with limitations on the driver, motorcycle and roads.
“For example, by requiring a red license plate for motorcycles operating in this modality, the project unduly equates the motoapp with the mototaxi, ignoring federal legislation specific to transport via applications,” the association declares in a note.
“In practice, this creates a disguised ban, already rejected by the Court, which, in unanimous decisions of the TJ-SP (São Paulo Court of Justice) and the STF (Federal Supreme Court), prevented local blockades.”
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