MARGAO
Tourist taxi operators from South Goa has upped the ante against the deadline set by the government on installation of speed governors.
In a memorandum submitted to the government, taxi operators comprising of Valencio Savio Goes and others have urged the Transport department/Government to take the vehicle (taxi) manufacturers into confidence to ensure that Section 118 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 on Speed governor is implemented.
The tourist taxi operators have further stated that the Goa government and the Transport department consider seeking expert opinion on the matter before forcing the operators for the installation of the speed governors in a hurry.
In the memorandum, the tourist taxi operators pointed out that Section 118 cited in para 5 above clearly defines that the Car/vehicle manufacturer is responsible to equip/fit the speed governor / speed limiting device or speed limiting function at the manufacturing stage or at the dealership stage.
“Now that the manufacturing stage and the dealership stage is long over, the Transport Department / Government of Goa needs to coordinate with the various manufacturers of the vehicles to arrange the installing of the speed governors”, they pointed out in the memorandum.
Calling upon the government to seek expert opinion on the matter, the tourist taxi operators referred to the technical observations made by experts, warning of dangers if the speed governors are installed in its present unorganized crude from.
Saying there’s chaos & confusion within the Goa Transport Department over the question of shortlisting of reliable Speed Governors to be recommended for installation, the operators said the “the RTO officials simply say "We want speed governors installed as per guidelines". Some honest & conscious RTO officers have advised us "Be careful what type of speed governors you are installing because that could mean trouble since there is no definite brand that has been identified to be reliable".
They added: “3. In this confusion, small time hawkers and middlemen are making a fast buck & running away. This means we are deprived & robbed of warranty & after sales service. In the recent past, very many of us have installed speed governors which have been dead upon being installed. And with the dealers disappearing, we are the total losers with no answers when RTO stop us on the roads.
Saying the taxi operators are perfectly fine with the installation of speed governors, they, however, said the whole system of implementing the peed governors is faulty.
“Firstly, reliable dealers & brand/s have not be shortlisted by the Transport Department. To add to the confusion, the Transport Department is only interested in having the speed governors installed without giving the whole process a thought. The most important part is that they have not ensured that there are sufficient service centres made available. Above all, there are absolutely no service centres available. It is the authorities (Transport Dept) that have to ensure that the whole cycle is complete. In the process, we the laymen (taxi owners) are isolated in a "no man’s land". If & when the speed governor stops working, we will have to stop our taxi business with nowhere to go since there are no service centres”.
