aJIT JOHN
PANJIM: When a tourist decides to visit Goa, he or she is interested in visiting the famous churches or temples, tucking into some of the delicious sea food and finally working on their tan. However like a lot of things in life everything does not really work out like that. Trying to travel around Goa or rather trying to find a decent cheap vehicle is like trying to find a solution to the Palestinian question. Farfetched you may think but it is certainly not. Given the economics in the taxi rental business and the state of the tourism business the various players are fighting a battle to stay afloat.
Nigel Fernandes an operator based in Mapusa was quite forthright when asked how the industry was faring.
He said “Business is poor and now with the drop in the number of tourists coming to Goa you can imagine the state of affairs.”
Asked how he was surviving given these circumstances he said his 20 cars were busy every day due to the business generated by corporate clients. Companies from all over the country called him due to contacts made in the past and by calls from agencies from all over the country.
Asked what the future was of the industry he said tourism had to rebound and fast. Foreign tourist had to come in greater numbers and domestic tourists had to stay for a longer duration which meant they would travel greater miles.
Another major player in state, Pushkal Mariano Fernandes who has 145 cars said business was good though it could be even better. Tour operators from all over the country called him for cars when their clients came to Goa. He even received calls from abroad which helped and he said that on several occasions it was usually the word of mouth which helped.
Asked of the problems that blighted the industry he said as the only operator which could legally allow a tourist to drive away from his outlet with a car. This kind of licence was not available in the state because taxi associations in the north and south felt it would destroy their business and had pressurised the RTO according to Pushkal Fernandes.
According to him this had not stopped individuals to rent out their cars even though they were not licensed to do so. He said these cars had white number plates.
Asked how many such cars were present in the state he claimed there were approximately 6000 such cars operating with tourists driving them around claiming they were their friend’s cars.
Another operator concurred that many of these cars were driven around and that the RTO was aware but was not doing anything. Yet another player who did not want to come on record claimed that each of these operators paid officials around Rs 1000 to look the other way. Fernandes felt that rates were constant because of the large number of players in the market and the fact that the national players had not come in ensured the market stayed chaotic.
Players like OLA had entered but had to move out after local operators threatened action. His company offered cars for weddings, corporate events and had cars across categories. He felt radio taxis had to come to Goa because the customer was king.
One of the biggest players in the state who refused to come on record due to the sensitivities involved felt that the drop in the number of foreign tourists had been offset by the increase in the number of domestic tourists coming to the state. He felt that domestic tourists were interested in going around the state which was always good for business where as foreign tourists would go perhaps to the Old Goa church and sit on the beach. This explanation is interesting when one has to consider that in Goa a driver is paid as per 8hr or 80 kms instead of the 250 kms a day as is the case in places like Maharashtra.
Another problem was the taxi drivers in the south not allowing taxis from the north to come in and pick up guests. Business he felt was available for everyone though it would not make sense to get into the business now given that there were well entrenched players. Finally when asked why taxi rates differed if one spoke Konkani, English or Hindi, he smiled and said that one had to take care of one’s own and that discounts had to be given to a Goan since they were the sons of the soil.
Perhaps as Goa settles in for the monsoons due shortly, time could be spent to come up with innovative ways to sort out the mess that is the taxi service in Goa.
