Team Herald
PANJIM: A day after Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant assured that the app-based taxi service GoaMiles would not be stopped, taxi operators expressed their complete displeasure towards the government stand and reiterated that the service be scrapped immediately.
Tourist taxi operators on Thursday called on the Chief Minister, wherein they refused to join the GoaMiles service, but said that they are agreeable to enroll with the app-based service provided the government launches a new service. They have decided to call for a meeting of all the taxi associations to decide their stand.
Speaking to media persons after meeting the Chief Minister, Association of Tourist Taxi Owners Goa president Chetan Kamat said they are disappointed with the government decision and felt bad to see Goenkarponn being destroyed to protect the interest of private players.
“We have told Chief Minister that we stand by our demand that GoaMiles be scrapped. We are ready to work with the government, if they launch their own app-based taxi service,” Kamat said. He added that taxi operators have told the Chief Minister that they will never join GoaMiles.
Asked what will be their future course of action, Kamat said the taxi operators, across State, would soon meet to decide the stand. “We will take a stand shortly,” he said.
Taxi operators in the past had threatened to hold an indefinite strike at Azad Maidan, Panjim if the government failed to scrap the app.
On Wednesday, the House over two and half hours discussed the contentious taxi issue, and even as the Opposition benches staged a walk out, the government stood by the app-based service, turning down the demand of tourist taxi owners to scrap it.
Sawant told the House, at the end of discussion on the issue, that government will support the tourist taxi operators, if they want to start their own app. The Chief Minister urged them to join GoaMiles for three months and then take a decision whether to continue or not.
