“The law was passed by parliament and saw a broad consensus on its adoption, having been enacted following a veto, with the government continuing to work with taxi associations where we recognised that the matters of complete agreement were few,” Fernandes told journalists in a break from a congress in Portalegre.

Several parliamentary groups on Wednesday agreed to hear taxi drivers’ complaints against the new law, which aims to provide a legal framework to regulate online ride-hailing platforms already operating in the country – Uber, Taxify, Cabify and Chaffeur Privé.

Taxi drivers were on Wednesday protesting in Lisbon, Porto and Faro against the law, which is to come into force on 1 November, after its approval in parliament on 12 July and promulgation by the president on 31 July.

Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, approved the regulations on 31 August and they are due to come into force on 1 November. Wednesday's protest was called in a last-ditch effort to stop it coming into effect.