Goa Taxi Aggregator Policy Remains in Limbo Amid Opposition from Drivers on World Tourism Day

As Goa marks World Tourism Day, the un certainty over the state’s taxi aggregator policy has once again highlighted the long-running tussle be tween local operators and the tourism sector. The draft Goa Transport Aggregator Guidelines, 2025, remain un der review after thousands of responses from drivers, the vast majority of them ob jections, left the government reluctant to push the frame work forward. Transport Minister Mau vin Godinho, while speaking to the media, admitted that the policy continues to be in limbo. “The taxi policy is not easy to form. We therefore do not want to force it. This is just a draft policy that is in the public domain,” he said. According to figures from the Transport Directorate, over 4,000 taxi drivers sub mitted responses to the draft guidelines. Of these, 3,590 opposed the policy, while just 455 supported it. The large volume of objections has prompted the govern ment to tread cautiously, with Godinho saying the process of examining sug gestions is still underway. “Once the review is com plete, the revised draft will be forwarded to the State Transport Authority, which will conduct its own review and provide further recom mendations before the poli cy is finalised,” the minister explained. Godinho acknowledged that balancing the demands of Goa’s growing tourism industry with the concerns of traditional taxi operators remains the most difficult task. “We do not want to hurt locals. However, we do not want to hurt Goa’s tourism sector either. The viral vide os (criticising taxi operators in Goa) are evident. We have to figure out how to bridge that gap, which in itself is a challenge,” he said. The minister also noted the strain that rising tourist arrivals place on the state. Goa now sees annual visitor numbers nearly ten times its population, with arrivals sometimes crossing the one crore mark. This exponen tial growth, he added, has stretched not only transport services but also infrastruc ture such as waste manage ment. The draft guidelines, in troduced earlier this year, seek to regulate app-based taxis by ensuring fare trans parency, improving passen ger safety, and addressing competition between aggre gators and traditional oper ators. But with taxi associ ations firmly opposed, the final policy remains stuck in review