Goemkarponn Desk
Panaji: Goa State Industries Association (GSIA), the apex body of the MSMEs in Goa fully supports the app-based taxi services in Goa. The Government should not only ensure that GoaMiles continue, but should also allow any other app-based taxi service aggregators such as Ola, Uber etc., to operate in Goa.
It is a known fact that taxi operators, in the absence of digital meters and monitoring of taxi fares, are fleecing the tourists as well as the locals who avail the taxi services in Goa by overcharging with arbitrary fares. This has brought a bad name to Goa, at both the national and international levels, as a preferred tourist destination.
In Goa, we do not have a reliable public transport hence there is a need for some affordable transport service. If Goa wants to promote tourism, this kind of app-based taxi services are a must as a seamless and convenient mode of travel. GSIA agrees with the Government’s move to install digital meters on all taxis in the State as this step will bring in transparency and will improve the image of the State too.
App-based aggregators offer convenient transport services. We have observed that if any of the supplier or client of the industrial unit comes to Verna Industrial Estate, they complain of being overcharged by the taxi operators. Also, if any of our clients stay in some hotel, we are not allowed to go and pick them up by this taxi lobby. This cannot happen in any democratic country where people should have the right to choose their means of transport.
We urge the Government not to succumb to the pressure tactics of the taxi unions and instead adopt a long term approach that is in the interest of the State and the tourism sector. We feel the taxi operators in Goa could launch an app-based cab aggregator in their own interest and in the interest of the State which will receive good support from the locals as well as the tourists coming to Goa.