Ranjan Solomon
Social media is usually severe in its take on taxi operators in Goa. It judges them “ mostly unfairly- as being ‘goons’ and lumpen elements. This article seeks to raise issues and questions that demand to be addressed. Industry and government, and a pliant media, often with self-interests, have joined together to discredit this sector who are self-employed and seek to carve out an honest livelihood based on loyalty and hard work
In the mid seventies, the State Government of Goa realized the tremendous potential of developing the tourism sector. After the 80’s, the tourism industry flourished even further as is evident in the increase in the number of hotels, flights and tourists over the years. ‘Backpackers’ and ‘Charter Tourists’ rushed to Goa, which came to be seen as the “most sought after tourist destination”.
At the embryonic stage, tourism in Goa was serviced by local buses, black-and-yellow taxis, and a few motorcycle pilots on select routes. Gradually, as a result of the rise in numbers of tourists, these services were found inadequate to meet the emerging demand. In addition, the typical foreign tourist had changed from being a ‘hippy’, to a conventional holiday maker, who now demanded better transport services. This is how, in the early 80s, a new form of taxi called the ‘tourist taxi’ was successfully introduced. The tourist taxis were the mainstay of the transport services for tourists in Goa ever since, in spite of the various difficulties faced by this predominantly local group of stakeholders, especially after some clumsy government intrusions.
The advent of tourist taxis was not only a boon for the tourists, but also the only avenue for self-employment for a number of local youth, who were left without their traditional means of livelihood, as a result of tourism. Many locals ventured into the tourist taxi sector successfully and whole-heartedly. Today this sector employs more than 3000 persons directly, thereby securing the lives of an equal number of families.
In the early 90s, Goa witnessed liberal, free for all, uncontrolled growth of a new mode of transport, supposedly to improve transport services to the tourist “ namely, tour and travel coaches. Over the years the number of tourist coaches has increased substantially, primarily as the buses also carry out local tours and other services traditionally provided by the tourist taxis. The tourist taxis have had to face restrictive and unfair practices, thereby severely diminishing the earning opportunities promised to the self-employed, local, tourist taxi owners and drivers. The benefits of tourism are being unfairly denied to the self-employed local entrepreneurs in whose name tourism was advocated in Goa in the early 80s.
This also goes completely against the policy of the Department of Tourism, expressed as ‘Involvement of local people to the maximum extent possible in the tourism related development activities’.
After the rapid growth of charter tours and tour operators, hotels created unfair conditions favoring tour operators, thereby adversely affecting the interests of tourist taxi drivers. Instead of recognizing the tremendous service given by the tourist taxi drivers over the years, hotels now subject them to unequal and unfair practices. Here are blatant violations of normal principles of justice:
“Reps” (foreigners carrying out travel related business in Goa) are allowed full access to the hotel lobbies, where they freely carry out deals and negotiations, completely excluding the taxi drivers. While hotels encourage counters for the tour operators, taxi drivers are denied equal opportunity. Some hotels which earlier offered these services have even removed taxi counters.
It is essential that prices and offers of both taxi drivers and tour operators are displayed at the same place within the lobby in order to end the ongoing discrimination against taxi drivers. Uncontrolled growth of the number of coaches, have caused a steady drop in the income of the local youth employed in the taxi industry. Every coach that collects 15 to 30 honeymoon couples and takes them on a day tour, denies 15 to 30 local self-employed youth their livelihoods as promised under the Tourism Policy. Further, each tourist ends up paying double the fare in spite of the lower quality of service.
Sometimes hotels go to the extent of warning tourists not to travel by taxis. For example, tourists have been told in the past that they would lose insurance cover if they travel by taxis. As a result of this pattern of discrimination by the hotels, not only are the local, self-employed tourist taxi drivers denied their legitimate interests in the tourism industry, but tourists are also denied their legitimate rights as consumers.
Taxis are not asking for more than what is just. They want hotels to start treating the taxi drivers equally vis-Ã -vis tour operators, especially with regards to counter space, exhibition of prices, and opportunity.
Contrary to views that taxi drivers are a bunch of ‘goons’ and ‘lumpen elements’, the truth of the matter is that they are, by and large, a disadvantaged group. If experiences of tourists were objectively and fairly documented, taxi operators would come looking much better than projected. They tend to be lowly paid workers and manage to earn only during the tourist season as they are virtually unemployed for over half the year. It is important to pursue a citizen-taxi-industry-government dialogue mediated by an independent and eminent Goan. The unfair characterization of the taxi operator may then get a new look. This could turn around the situation and local stakeholders could reclaim their rightful space in Goan tourism.
