19 Sep 2020  |   06:14am IST

Extend moratorium till March 2021, taxi owners plead to govt

Extend moratorium till March 2021, taxi owners plead to govt

Team Herald

MAPUSA: The Tourist Taxi Owners Association on Friday appealed to the government to extend the moratorium till March 2021.

President of North Goa Tourist Taxi Owners Association Vasudev Arlekar said,” Taxi owners are under pressure since there is no business due to COVID-19 pandemic. The business is totally shut down since March 2020 and there is no other source of income. The taxi owners have taxis costing up to 20 lakh and EMIs of these vehicles is between Rs 20,000 and 40,000. Now since there is no income, it is not possible to repay the EMIs.” 

“We request the government to extend the moratorium till March 2021 which is about to get over by end of September because the taxi owners are not in position to pay the EMIs. We also request the government to waive off the interest of 12 months on loans,” Arlekar pleaded.

"We would also like to request the government to issue circular to Traffic Department directing the officers not to harass the commercial vehicle operators asking for any documents such as the tax, insurance, passing certificate etc since the Road and Transport Ministry at Centre has issued Standard operating procedure (SOP) till December,” he Arlekar mentioned.

"Our business totally depends on the tourism industry. Every business that is depended on the tourism is shut down and there is no income. We also request the government to waive off the road tax as well as the fine imposed on the payment of tax,” he said.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar