MARGAO
Accusing Mauvin Godinho of meting out injustice to the local tourist taxi operators, taximen on Monday slammed the Transport Minister for unveiling a plan to get Ola and Uber taxi aggregators in Goa.
They demanded to know why local operators should pay huge commissions for Ola and Uber when they have made huge investments in a taxi by taking loans and risks.
They demanded the immediate intervention of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to mete out justice to the local tourist operators eking out a livelihood from the taxi business.
The association further maintained that there are around 18,500 tourist taxi operators in the State, and they will have to take a call whether or not to go for a local app-based taxi.
Addressing the media at Benaulim on Monday, All Goa Tourist Taxi Association president Chetan Kamat said the Transport Minister has been after the tourist taxi operators to install meters when guests do not travel in taxis with meters.
“We have observed that 90 per cent of guests do not prefer taxis with meters. Maybe they have the fear that they will be taken for a ride like in metropolitan cities and hence ask for a fixed rate,” he said, adding that if the Minister is hell-bent on installing meters in tourist taxis, he should deploy officials at every hotel to get the guests to travel in taxis with meters.
Kamat requested the Transport Minister to operate a taxi for a month to see the ground reality before coming out with statements directed at the operators.
Benaulim Tourist Taxi Association member Roque Fernandes said that Mauvin’s plan to bring in Ola and Uber has come at a time when the taxi operators are just coming out of the Covid pandemic. He demanded to know whether Mauvin has any plans to ensure the price of tender coconuts, ice creams and so on, and protect the interest of the tourists.
General secretary of All Goa Tourist Taxi owners Gangaram Phadte said the Transport Minister is planning to get Ola and Uber cab aggregators in Goa when they have become outdated in the metropolitans.
Rejecting the charge that guests are being overcharged, he said the tourist taxi operators charge the rates notified by the government.
Roy Barretto, a member of the Cavelosism Tourist Taxi Association, said that the livelihood of the local taxi operators will be jeopardized if Ola and Uber come to Goa.
“I would like to remind the government that many five-star hotels have come along the coast after promising locals of the taxi business. The government has no right to mete out injustices to the local self-employed youth,” Roy said.
Benaulim MLA proposes two policies
THE GOAN NETWORK
MARGAO
Taking up cudgels for the beleaguered tourist taxi operators, Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas has mooted two different policies, one a Goa Taxi Corporation (GTC) to run and oversee taxis in the State for the use of the common man, and two the tourist taxis operating with tariff approved by the starred hotels.
Opposing the entry of Ola and Uber into the State and terming the taxi aggregators as outdated, the Benaulim MLA underscored the need to develop the Goan brand instead of getting the aggregators in.
In the presence of local tourist taxi operators at Benaulim, he told the media that it is a shame that Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho has still not resolved the tourist taxi issue to date.
“Ola and Uber is an outdated project. We have to preserve our culture. The taxi and motorcycle pilot and the taxi stand are all part of Goan culture,” he said.
The MLA said that forming a Goa Taxi Corporation would open avenues for thousands of youth to run a taxi, which would facilitate the common man to use taxis as their mode of transport.
As far as tourist taxi is concerned, let them operate from the starred hotels with notified rates and counters inside the hotels.
“Let this be our tourism brand, the GTC taxis for the common man and the tourist taxis for the tourists putting up in the starred hotels,” he said while disclosing plans to raise the issue in the ensuing assembly session.
