14 Oct 2021  |   05:46am IST

New taxi counter opened at Dabolim Airport

Team Herald

VASCO: New taxi counter for taxi operators at the Dabolim Airport was inaugurated by Minister for Transport Mauvin Godinho on Wednesday. 

GoaMiles should not be given backdoor entry to ensure that local Goans retain their taxi business.

Speaking to the reporters, Minister for Transport Mauvin Godinho said that Goa was hit by a peculiar problem of transportation by taxis operators. 

“Taxis are the most important medium as far as tourists and the locals are concerned. Every tourist that comes to Goa passes through the airport. The problem and the complaint were always against taxi perators. Taxi owners were demanding that one business should remain with them. When the GoaMiles the app based taxi service came from then a problem of different sort started.

He further said that the taxi operators who went on agitation in the past were assured by him that they would get their own independent counter at the airport. “Despite several issues, I fulfilled my promise and this shows that the BJP govt is with the local taxi operators. Even the installation of digital meters was meant for fair charging of taxi fare”, he said.

Further, commenting on the GoaMiles, the minister said that the backdoor entry to GoaMiles should not be given at the airport. 

“Initially, GoaMiles was only for giving information but they used to solicit customers. I will not allow such things to happen. Now that the taxi counter is open, anything related to transportation will be handled by the department. There has been a policy in place wherein a 15 years resident will get a taxi batch which has been made mandatory. This will ensure livelihood opportunities to locals”, he added.

Godinho also mentioned that it is the responsibility of each stakeholder in the tourism sector to give best services and be disciplined with the tourists. 

Another counter has been taken up which will be for Kadamba, wherein electrical buses will be acquired by the department and at least the point to point service in North and South Goa in case of emergency.