The stand-off over the proposed digital taxi platform remained unresolved on Thurs day after the Government of Goa held its first round of talks with taxi operator associations, with the government pushing for app-based aggregation even as unions firmly declared it “not feasible” in the State. The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and attended by representatives of nearly 36 taxi associations, ended without a breakthrough. Instead, the government consti tuted a four-member committee to examine objections raised by operators. A second round of discussions has been scheduled for March 9. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sawant struck an optimistic note, saying the long-pending issues in the taxi sector could be resolved if oper ators agreed to come on board the proposed digital platform. “I feel the issue will be sorted out. All the leaders were 100 per cent positive. If they come on the platform, all issues will be sorted out,” the chief minis ter said. He added that further discus sions would take place on Mon day when the government wouldreceive additional inputs from taxi operators. “Step by step we will resolve all the issues,” he said. Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho outlined the govern ment’s proposal, which envis ages a draft digital taxi platform with a uniform fare structure under which only two apps — GoaMiles and Goa Taxi App — would operate in the State. “Getting taxi operators on a digital platform has been the endeavour of the government. As many as 36 associations par ticipated in the meeting. Only two platforms, namely GoaMiles and Goa Taxi App, will be there. There will be a uniform rate,” Godinho said. He said a committee compris ing a Deputy Director of Trans port and three Assistant Direc tors had been formed to hear concerns raised by operators and submit a report ahead of the next round of talks. The sub-commit tee will meet on Monday to ex amine possible reforms. While the government em phasised safety, security and fare transparency as key objec tives of the digital platform, taxi unions maintained that app based aggregation was funda mentally unsuitable for Goa. Taxi union leader Yogesh Govekar made the opposition explicit. “App-based service is not feasible in the state. What is happening is an election gim mick. There are many factors which make the proposal unfea sible for the state,” he said.
Chetan Kamat, another taxi union leader, said the meet ing largely involved the government outlining its proposed policy rather than detailed deliberations. “There was no major discussion on the issue. The gov ernment informed us about the policy it intends to intro duce and said taxi operators should come on one platform. We demanded that GoaMiles and the other app should be scrapped. Unless all taxi operators are taken into confi dence, no final decision can be taken,” Kamat said. He further asserted that operators had consistently re jected app-based services. “If that was the case, we would have agreed to it eight years ago. Rates can be digitalised and we will submit our suggestions to the committee,” he said. Some unions also questioned the legal and procedural basis of existing app platforms. Sudip Tamhankar, general secretary of the All Goa Private Bus Owners’ Association, alleged that GoaMiles was introduced in the State illegal ly, while the Goa Taxi App currently has only provisional permission. Operators additionally raised concerns about whether any comprehensive study had been conducted before pro posing app-based services. “Efforts are being made to introduce apps, but has any study been done on Goa and its demography? Bureaucrats who are from outside cannot impose policies on us without understanding how this business functions and how many families depend on it,” another operator said. On the political side, Calangute MLA Michael Lobo backed uniform, transparent fares accessible on a digital platform, while Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said concerns re garding technology integration had been addressed and that the government aimed to bring all operators onto a single platform with uniform rates after considering stake holders’ inputs. However, with unions firmly resisting mandatory app based operations and the government insisting that digital integration is the way forward, the first round of discus sions ended in a clear deadlock. The newly formed committee will now hear representa tions from taxi associations and submit its report before the next meeting on March 9, when both sides will attempt once again to bridge the widening divide over the future of Goa’s taxi sector.
