PANJIM: Upset with the lack of clarity from the Transport Department on the issue of installation of digital meters, the taxi operators met the Assistant Transport Director Francisco Vaz, on Tuesday.
Before they could meet Vaz, the taxi operators were not allowed to enter into the Transport Department office, which left the taxi operators infuriated.
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When they finally met Vaz, they put forth all their grievances, to which Vaz asked them to submit the same in writing.
The main point of contention was about the high cost of fitting the meter and related charges. Taxi union leaders told Vaz that Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho had told them that the meters would be installed for free and that Rs 32 crore had been budgeted for this.
Vaz clarified that the Transport Department is paying only for the fitting of the meters and that the amount will be reimbursed to them in two phases, now and one year post installation.
While the taxi operators slammed the government for implanting this during a pandemic when people are anyways facing a financial burden, they also criticised the Transport Department for not being able to install the meters immediately.
Pointing out that after one books a digital meter, it takes several days before it is finally installed given the various processes involved. However, this poses a problem to taxi operators whose permits are ending as their permits are not installed at the time of booking but only after it is installed and in that interim period, they don’t have a permit.
Moreover, they mocked the government for talking about the GPS and panic buttons when the same technology has not yet been incorporated with the meters. They added that these two features are not as per the Supreme Court guidelines and objected to it being used at all.
They also reminded the department about their earlier lengthy protests where they had demanded that GoaMiles be scrapped before they install the digital meters. They accused the government of trying to destroy the only source of livelihood of thousands of local taxi owners.
The taxi operators further pointed out other technical discrepancies in information given out by the Transport Department regarding digital meters.
