PANAJI
The Lokayukta A H Joshi has directed the transport department to furnish information sought regarding details of vehicles associated with the cab aggregator Goa Miles.
“In case the respondent fails to ensure the delivery of all documents, the respondent is directed to remain present before this forum on July 12,” said Lokayukta in its directive on Thursday.
RTI activist Sudip Tamhankar had lodged a complaint with the ombudsman citing various flaws in the implementation of the app-based taxi service.
“RTO guidelines state that the cab aggregator to be given permission should have at least 450 taxis. Goa Miles has claimed 450 vehicles are with them. We had doubts about these figures and so, we had asked details to know who these 450 vehicle owners were with the cab aggregator.”
“But the transport department refused to give this information,” said complainant Sudip Tamhankar, who is also a part of the All Goa Bus Owners’ Association.
Tamhankar has alleged that the government framed guidelines on March 13, 2018 and obtained approval for the app aggregators on June 7, 2019, much after the app was implemented in August 2018.
Taxi operators who are backed by a few other transport associations had launched a protest against the GoaMiles and demanded that the government scrap the app-based taxi service. However, the government has not paid any heed to their demands.
