A proposed cut in Madeira taxi fares has been suspended after officials discovered that taximeters cannot be programmed to accept lower rates. The plan was meant to reduce the official per-kilometre price from €0.75 to €0.72, including in contracted services such as patient transport for the Regional Health Service of Madeira, SESARAM. During technical checks, an error was found that blocked the update and exposed a wider problem in how fare changes are applied. The issue was traced not to taxi operations on the road, but to the internal software of the taximeters, which cannot be adjusted to a fare below the one already in force. AITRAM, one of the associations behind the proposal, admitted the mistake and informed the Institute of Mobility and Transport - IMT IP-RAM. After an emergency meeting between AITRAM’s president, António Loreto, and IMT Madeira, all taximeter inspections at the Madeira Metrology Laboratory were suspended, along with any work by certified inspectors and repair technicians. AITRAM said a new amendment to the existing fare agreement will be signed tomorrow, 5 February 2026, while taxi drivers in Madeira continue operating with the current fares.
