The taxi system in Goa needs a complete overhaul. The government has to bite the bullet and implement these rules, without giving in to the demands of the taxi lobby
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Consider the first impression you get on arrival at the Dabolim airport. You have to stand in a long line to book your prepaid taxi. The counter clerk keep shouting to someone, “AC taxi or Non AC or Carrier etc”. The second person shouts a number back from a list. Apparently every driver has to come up and write his no on that page in order to be eligible for the next trip. This means even the driver who is 50th in line has driven up to the congested space and parked there to be able to write his number down. Surely this adds to the confusion outside. Then you exit the terminal building to be surrounded by half a dozen taxi drivers checking if your receipt has their number. Having found the driver you then have to walk to the taxi which is haphazardly parked along with 50 plus other taxis. These taxis block the driveway. The other problem, because of this haphazrd parking, is that the smooth flow of other traffic is hampered. This leads to arguments with the parking wardens who then hold you accountable for being inside the terminal area for more that the allotted time. Arguments galore and tempers get frayed.
Contrast this with the system at the Mumbai domestic airport, you pay for your taxi of choice, prepaid or radio cab. If pre-paid, you go to the separate enclosure and sit in your cab, which is neatly parked and hinders no one. If it is a radio taxi, you proceed to the pick-up point and the taxi driver gets a message from the despatcher, and then reaches to pick you up.
Why cannot the AAI invest in a little technology to decongest the arrival and departure area? Can they not install a computer with simple software which any Goan startup will develop in a matter of days? The passenger will pay at the counter and according to his choice he will be assigned a taxi from the list that has the numbers of drivers waiting in the old parking lot. Once assigned, the taxi will drive up to the arrival gate to pick his customer. Surely this will ensure a more hassle-free arrival experience for the passenger, a hassle-free experience for those who do not need a taxi and surely a hassle-free experience for those who come to drop their passengers. At the exit, the parking attendants will surely heave a sigh of relief.
Pushing technology further, why these taxis cannot be plugged into an aggregators system? It is such a waste of precious fuel and an asset as the taxi returns empty and waits for the next flyer to arrive whenever that maybe. In Goa, for about five hours there are no flights because of naval restrictions. So, all the taxis are idle. If they were plugged into an aggregators system like Ola or Uber, they would be able to sweat their assets more or the taxi would be utilised more in simple words. No one makes money sitting down; the more paid trips the taxi makes, the more he earns.
In Bangalore on business, having finished my meeting, I connected to an aggregator and informed the system of my location and desire to have a taxi immediately. Even before I reached the main gate the system sent me a message that taxi driver ABC and mobile no 123 would be reaching in a few minutes. When speaking to the driver during the journey he was all praise for the system. He had dropped off his passenger and on a normal day without the help of technology he would have to drive back empty or atleast till he could spot someone trying to hail a cab. On a rainy day it would be impossible. I was happy too. The place is a bit isolated. On previous occasions I had to either hire a car for the whole day or come out and walk towards the metro station till a cab found me. This was so much easier.
The airport taxi, having dropped of his passenger at the chosen destination would automatically inform the system that his taxi is empty. The system can connect him to another passenger wishing to hail a taxi in that vicinity. The aggregator having connected the two ensures that both benefit. The passenger would get a convenient ride and the driver would make additional money. Unfortunately this is not possible for two reasons at present; some archaic rules prevail since time immemorial and no meter have been installed.
Apparently the rules currently in force prohibit taxis licensed to ply form airport to do any other business. The same rules apply to black and yellow taxis plying from railway stations. To be fair we must assume even if we know it is not true that there must have been some sane reason for such rules at the time there were implemented. However, now with change in technologies and public pressure for a better and cheaper system of transport changes need to be made.
The rules must be changed to allow taxi drivers to be free to pick passengers at anytime and anywhere and for that implementation of meters is a must. The government, rather than bending to the shortsighted demands of the taxi trade, should step in and show spine to make necessary changes, which in the long run will benefit both the drivers as well as the public. As someone famously said, ‘in Singapore a taxi driver is an ambassador without a diplomatic passport.’ Can the Goan taxi driver be encouraged and supported to be an ambassador for Goa.
Blaise Costabir is an alumnus of the Asian Institute of Management and a first generation entrepreneur
