The online petition to introduce app based cab services in Goa on the lines of Ola and Uber for the convenience of locals and tourists alike may be making waves on the social media and gained more than 7,000 signatures within a space of a few weeks.
PANAJI
However, when it came to actually handing over the petition to the Chief Minister ‘Manoharbhai,’ as he is addressed in the petition, they failed to get an appointment to hand it over and explain their case.
Speaking to The Goan, Joe Gomes, one of the core group responsible for the petition has said that neither the chief minister nor any of the ministers were available when they went to hand over the petition.
“We have been seeking an appointment with the Chief Minister since Friday. Today once again we went. He was present in his office but declined to meet us. The government has to hear the voices of the users as well,” Gomes told The Goan.
“Is the government trying to say that what the rest of the 15-lakh Goans think does not matter and only what the taxi operators think matters?” Gomes asked.
The petitioners had brought with them a hard copy of the online petition as well as annexure of more than thousand comments they have received from all over the world till date. The comments section has elaborated the nature of inconvenience and harassment faced by the tourists as well as locals in Goa due to the high rates and arrogant attitude of the taxi operators in Goa.
Speaking to The Goan after attempting to meet the Chief Minister, the group calling themselves “Citizens for Change” and consisting of Jose Gomes, Avelino D’Sa, Rohan Govekar and Mousinho Reis sought to explain their cause.
“The biggest problem is the rates charged by tourist taxis, which makes it impossible for local Goans to use them. We are not against the tourist taxis, they can continue with what they have been initially set up for -- tourists for sightseeing and excursions. App based taxi services can’t be used to sightseeing etc, which often involved wait times and going from one place to another,” Reis told The Goan seeking to stress that the tourist taxi service will not be affected.
“We are not here to uproot anybody, their market is different,” he said.
“Instead, the situation is such that the tourist taxis have completely wiped out the yellow and black taxis. This leaves locals with no option. When locals want a point to point service of a taxi, there is none available at reasonable rates,” Reis said.
They also rubbished the government’s claims that the GTDC will set up its own app based service. “Everything that the GTDC has tried so far has failed, be it the women taxi service, the amphibious buses, the seaplanes, etc. We do not see how this initiative which is inherently complex will succeed,” Gomes chipped in.
“What’s worse, is if the app is managed by the government it will fall prey to the same pressures from the taxi lobby that the current government is subject to,” Rohan Govekar said.
Besides the Chief Minister’s office, the group has handed over copies of the petition to the tourism minister, transport minister and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo.
