the goan I network
PANAJI
Taxis in their thousands stayed off the roads in Goa on Friday to protest against the government’s decision to back the app-based taxi aggregator GoaMiles and sending authorities in a tizzy to press additional Kadamba Transport Corporation buses to service stranded commuters and tourists at the airport, railway and bus stations and other pick up points.The strike by the local taxi operators, rent-a-cab operators and the black-and-yellow taxi owners left tourists and other commuters stranded across Goa on Friday.
They are demanding that the app-based taxi aggregator Goa Miles, facilitated by State-owned GTDC and operated in its name by a private company private, be scrapped.
On Friday evening following a crucial meeting, the taxi operators decided to stay off the roads indefinitely. They have also sought support from rent-a-bike and rent-a-cab operators who have also decided to go off the road from Saturday.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant meanwhile urged the taxi operators to call off their strike.
Sawant who earlier this week had thrown his government’s weight behind the GTDC-backed Goa Miles app-based aggregator said: “We are willing to talk. If the taxi operators want, the government can start a special app service for our striking taxi operators. But they have to embrace technology.”
Chetan Kamat, the president of All Goa Taxi Operators Union, meanwhile said they were firm on the demand to scrap the GTDC-backed service GoaMiles.
He however, refused to commit on the taxi operators demand that GoaMiles be shut down.
Kamat said the app-based service has to be shut down to ensure a level playing field without which it would be impossible for them to start their own app-based service.
1 World famous Colva beach, which was the epicenter of the agitation against Goa Miles Taxi service, was relatively quite on Friday
2 A visit to Colva beach revealed that the government had mobilized strong police force to deal with any law and order situation
3 Police pickets were set up at the beach, near the Colva residency as well as the four roads junction near the Church as a precautionary measure
4 The tourist taxi counter, just outside the Colva residency, which otherwise bustles with activity on any given day, wore a deserted look
