Who is the loser in this tourist taxis protest, and have the striking taxis managed to drive home their point? This and several other questions have gone unanswered as there is defiance all around. The jury, however, is out. Goans and the lakhs of tourists that flock to the State need a more organized mode of transport.
At a time when technology has enveloped every sphere of our lives, the taxi sector cannot be an exception because of the so-called Goenkarponn attached to it. Enough of debates have taken place over the arrogance and fleecing ways of taxis, and there have been endless depictions on how the Goan taxi business and families will be ‘on the roads’. Introduction of new innovations and technologies are bound to create a flutter in a highly unorganized sector. The social implications mainly remain blurred in the background, because that may not be entirely a true picture across the spectrum.
It’s time to settle down to business on the taxi front. What are the options? Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has appealed to the taxi owners to join the GoaMiles app, there is an appeal to sit across and fine-tune fares and other nitty-gritties and there is another option for the private taxis to float an app of their own with assured government support.
Putting a pre-condition of scrapping GoaMiles to resolve the issue is preposterous and reflects the high-handedness with which the taxis are approaching the situation. And belatedly agreeing to settle for installing taxi meters instead is a clear indication of the devious ways that are being used to wriggle out of the situation.
Interestingly, the fact that it took almost a year for the taxis to retaliate only indicates that they are beginning to feel the shivers. Leave aside GoaMiles, what stops the taxis from operating their own app which can protect the much-sought after Goemkarponn. Goemkarponn can’t be used as a shield to drive agendas. There are thousands of non-Goans in the taxi business and there are countless owners having a fleet of taxis.
Ola and Uber have been running parallel services in several cities across India and even abroad, so why can’t two taxi apps be available to passengers, or even more? Why should there be monopoly of one? The government has given the taxis a long rope and continues to do so. A call to go ahead with their own app is itself a most generous invitation.
Legislators rooting for the taxi lobbies have narrated enough of ‘doom-and-gloom’ stories. Taxis are considered to be huge vote-banks and that is why some within the government remain fence-sitters. It’s time to move on. The stance of the government must be lauded and also its efforts to galvanize resources to fill in the sudden vacuum created by the strike. The chief minister must remain firm in his resolve and take the taxi issue to its logical conclusion. It’s now or never.
