The funny thing isthat the cops know this. The South Goa Superintendent Police (Immigration) TonyFernandes dropped a bomb shell, when he disclosed that a German tourist wasliterally swindled, when he was charged a hefty $100 for a half kilometer drivefrom the Mormugao Port to Vasco city. Fernandes was recently addressing anational workshop on ‘Cruise Tourism’ attended by 50 odd delegates. Director ofTourism, Government of India, Yashvir Singh was also present.
For Singh, this pieceof information came as a shocker. In a way, he admitted that such harassment oftourists at the hands of taxi operators happened in other parts of India. Buthe never expected such incidents in Goa. In fact, as soon as the touristscome out of the airport, they are at the mercy of the Tourist Taxi Union (TTU),the Black and Yellow Taxi (B&YT) and Rent-a-Car who fleece them to no end. AAI officials too understand the stiffchallenge of offering affordable transport to tourists.
“We even introduced a Kadambashuttle service as affordable means of transport. Unfortunately a bus wasstoned by taxi operators. The government should look into this seriously.” saidM Narendra, Officer on Special Duty at Dabolim airport.
The normal taxi fare from the airport toPanjim is a massive Rs 700, the highest for thatdistance in the country. Regular travelers are issued car booking ticketsat Information Counter of TTU often used as booking counter inside theairport’s international arrival section. This upsets their counterparts,B&YT who wait for their turn at pre-paid taxi counter outside internationalarrivals. Both the groups wrestle among themselves to come up tops and inthe process inconveniences the travelers by pulling their luggage in attempt togarner business.
The Black and YellowTaxi Union President Sandeep Shetye said, “An Information Counter allotted toTTU has been converted into a booking counter and TTU solicits passengers whichleads to chaos at the airport.”
“We too have a rightto run business from the airport and High Court has assigned us a counter inairport. We have been demanding that there should be a single window for bothB&YT and TTU that would resolve the issue at airport,” said formerpresident of TTU Prashad Prabhugaonkar.
