16 Jun 2019  |   03:39am IST

ENOUGH! Goans want the taxi “menace’ to stop

Goans, have stuck together to take on the menace of local taxi operators and have been labeling them as “taxi mafia” on Facebook and other social media. Goans, irrespective of whether some local politicians are “shockingly” backing the local tourist taxi operators, want app based and radio taxis to start operating, with local taxi operators joining this platform

Former Ranji and IPL cricketer Aditya Angle, left

behind his personal vehicle and called in to the Goa Miles taxi, to look at it as an option to commute to work and skip the hassles of crowding the city and searching through for a parking space.

He asserted, “Just while getting into my car to go to office a thought popped up about trying the service. The main reason being the parking problem we have in the city. To my surprise my experience was more than expected. Promptness in time, the intent of the cabbies' their willingness to serve their clients and more over their interest in making Goa a wonderful place for tourist and locals too. Just felt I should share my experience,” posted Aditya on his Facebook feed and he had the support of all his friends and relatives, also sharing their positive experiences of Goa Miles.

Interestingly Kaushal Kankonkar also pointed out that Goa Miles is the only second service amongst the app based services across India to have all legal permissions and licenses to operate making it much more credible as against other global app based services functioning in other parts of India.

“The other app based services running in other parts of India will either be lacking some permission which is required across highway authorities, road and transport department, traffic cell or tourism board unlike Goa Miles which is the only services to clear all modalities explained a GTDC official to us.

Also interesting to observe is a trending post from Goan novelist Rohan Govekar who breaks into the myth that air fares are expensive, hotel fares are expensive and so is holidaying in Goa so its justified to have expensive taxi services in Goa with no proper per kilometer pricing.

Rohan asserted that Goan taxis fares are the highest in the country, with drivers quoting whatever they please. Anyone offering competitive prices is dealt with by the taxi union. The taxi union has formed a cartel which prevents any individual driver to offer better prices even if he wishes to which needs to be dealt with an iron fist. (SEE BOX)

“It’s a shame when we have heard how tourist are assaulted by the taxi mafia, foreign tourist from luxury cruise ships are heckled by the taxi operators, FIFA officials are de-boarded from a private vehicle and forced to take a taxi in Goa, starred hotel guests are bullied on their wedding celebration day because they opted for a private bus service and not a taxi. All this has brought a decline in tourism in this state and needs to stop, explain the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa members while they take cognizance of the taxi driver’s “mafia” in Goa.

Ricardo Pinto Rebelo, a successful businessman looks at how taxi drivers prefer to overprice their taxis and make only one or two trips a days while they spend their time gambling in parking lots the rest of the day. “ It’s a trend with the overpricing that our taxis are unaffordable and used very less and the result is taxis in Goa will be block most of the limited parking spaces that are available, not only in Tourist places, but in our major towns as well. The Taxi Drivers gang up and intimidate locals as well. We need this to stop. We need affordable taxis that are on the move and can replace our private vehicles to ease our towns and cities in Goa.”

Taxi drivers in Goa have been charging customers fares based on their spending and bills at a local restaurant, shopping at a supermarket, and estimated cash spend at a casino and or even sometimes on the bases of the place where the tourist hails from. How can this be equal and just? It’s obviously cheating and these taxi drivers are a cartel to MLAs of the coastal belt and hence feel the entitlement to bully Goa’s tourism industry, stated a Goan resident who reiterated an incident in the past where he was quoted in a taxi “mafia” story in a newspaper and then the taxi union gheraoed him by posing as a second journalist and calling him and later using the recorded audio clip to blackmail and threaten the individual.

The number of posts on social media and discussions in gatherings, parties and social functions leaves one with no doubt that it is not the tourist but the right thinking Goan who is now saying ‘Enough is enough”

The intense discussions of Facebook and

other social media is ample evidence of the absolute frustrations of Goans- yes Goans, at the attitude of local Goan taxi drivers. We at Café thought it fit to reproduce extracts of one of the most significant posts by Rohan Govenkar on June 9 at 1.35 am. for the full post, go to Facebook and also check out other Goan voices speaking out against the behaviour of local taxi drivers :

1)IGNORANCE ABOUT TAXI FARES NATIONALLY

Goan taxis fares are the highest in the country, with drivers quoting whatever they please. Anyone offering competitive prices is dealt with by the taxi union. The taxi unions have formed a cartel which prevents any individual driver to offer better prices even if he wishes to.

2) UNWILLINGNESS TO BE REGULATED

Goan taxi drivers don't want any meters to spoil their party. They believe that they can charge higher during peak seasons only because flight and hotel prices go up during that time.

3) UNWILLINGNESS TO ADOPT TECHNOLOGY

While the global traveller has been pampered by services like calling a cab through an App in every other destination, tourists in Goa have to call taxis the primitive way -by hunting for stands - or wait for someone to approach them while they pass by a hotel.

4) UNWILLINGNESS TO FACE COMPETITION

Taxi unions will not adopt technology or use any other innovation to make better the customer experience, and they will not allow someone else to do it either.

5) ILLOGICAL BELIEFS THAT SINCE EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE IN GOA, SO SHOULD THE TAXIS.

While the tourist can choose whether to eat at a shack or select another restaurant, there's zero choice left for him to get out of the airport to his hotel, with all that luggage.. Same goes for tourist activities- there's no cartel involved in any of these, and the tourist won't find himself stranded if he doesn't patronize these businesses. Taxis are employed out of compulsion.

6) LACK OF COURTESY AND CIVIC SENSE

This arises from zero accountability. There's no one to tame the ill-behaved among this lot.

7) INTIMIDATING ATTITUDE AND TENDENCY TO FORM MOBS

Even if you're a local, you must have faced some argument with a taxi driver You must have also encountered them calling in other taxi drivers to settle a dispute, in which case you must have humbly backed out because you didn't have an appetite for an intensified altercation or a few blows on your face