Keegan
Fernandes who is employed in a car showroom in Verna has not used the app based service
but has acted as its mini ambassador. He recommends clients to use the app
based car ride service when they bring their car to the showroom for servicing.
Ryan Moniz a resident of Panjim uses the service regularly. He
said “It is excellent and there are things that I like. The driver does not
answer calls while driving which I like very much and they are very courteous.
Importantly, they are cheaper when compared to regular taxis which is just
great”.
Shevanee Gaonkar of Curchorem has also used the service. She
said she never experienced any problems while using the service and had also
used it for her parents who were also happy with the overall experience. The
fact that it was cheaper also made it very attractive
For the Founder of
Goa Miles, the app based taxi service in Goa, Utkarsh Dabhade, it has been
quite a ride. He said “It has been a wonderful time full of learnings. The
reaction from the local has been tremendous. The car registration from the
south was tremendous. Today we have 2100 cars registered with us. Earlier the
percentage of taxis from the south was high it made up for approximately 75% of
cars with us. The north contributed the rest. Today almost 40% of cars
registrations come from the north. People now understand and have experienced
our service and are confident”. He admitted there were problems with the
service. Demand he said was huge but supply was able to match it. The maximum
density of vehicles he said was at the airport and the coastline.
Customer Pet peeves:
Taxis reach late and too many cancellations
This, he said
explained the complaints by people that sometimes the taxi took a while to
arrive at their doorstep. He revealed the company intended to target 4000 cars
this year. He revealed that 55 percent of all calls were made at night and they
were very clear that every request for a taxi had to be accepted. He admitted
there were complaints made about taxi drivers calling up and then cancelling.
Driver pet peeves:
Threat of being assaulted by local tourist taxi owners
Dabhade said “Some of
them are worried they will be assaulted if they go into certain areas. It is a
reality and we are aware of it. We have talked to them and assured them the
company will back them and will take the help of the police if such a problem arises.
If this is not the case and they simply cancel, we take strict action. We are
in the service industry”. Anyone booking for a taxi in the night he said could
use the option for a scheduled booking. A team would handle the case and send a
sms an hour before the taxi arrived with all the details at night. The issues
he said were being serviced and problems sorted out.
The app he said was
being downloaded by people in other parts of the country and this activity was
being tracked by the team. For the users of the service, it has been like a
godsend.
The presence of this
service in Goa was lauded by Savio Messias, President TTAG who said he was a
regular user of the service whenever he had to fly out. He felt they had to be
supported because, they provided a viable alternative to local expensive taxis.
This service he said would also mean less traffic congestions because according
to him if everyone used these taxis then private cars would be off the roads.
This would he said also reduce pollution. Another regular user said he had
experienced problems with the server when it came to payments but otherwise, he
was very happy with the entire experience.
While
one would say ‘miles to go’ app based taxis have taken the first step towards a
giant leap
