In April last
year, Payal Deshpande paid Rs 2,000 for the pre-paid taxi ride from Dabolim airport to her friend’s
home in Tuem, a distance of about 60km. She had paid Rs 3,000 for her flight
ticket to Goa from neighbouring Pune. Her friends dropped her to the airport
for her return journey.
Two years ago, on December 30, Bruno and Mavis Gawen paid Rs
3,000 to get from their hotel in Calangute to a restaurant in Candolim, a
distance of 2.2km. Their regular taxi operator had a prior commitment and they
took who was available. This December 30, they didn’t venture out.
Till they came to an “arrangement” with a local taxi driver, Mr
and Mrs D (they wished anonymity) paid Rs 1,000 each time they took a taxi to
the hospital, 3km from their home in Margao. The husband is undergoing
dialysis, thrice a week. The new arrangement has now made the fare
“affordable”.
When it comes to the prices charged by taxis in Goa,
users—tourists and locals alike—tend to have mild heart attacks.
Unlike metros and larger towns in India, taxis in Goa—except for
the state-run, app-based service, GoaMiles—do not base their fares on a meter
reading.
In fact most don’t even have a meter in their vehicle even
though it is a compulsory requirement for permit renewal. Those who do have one
tend to tell their customers it doesn’t work.
So contentious is this issue that a few years ago it led to a
high court petition filed by the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG)
to get the government to do something about this perceived looting of tourists.
On Monday, the
government, defending itself in a contempt petition, assured the court that it
would issue a notification on taxi fares within a fortnight. In a week’s time
the appointed contractor would begin installing digital meters and this would
take about six months to complete, the court was told.
At the directorate of
transport, officials say the contractor has already set up workshops in Panaji,
Bicholim, Margao and Vasco and the modalities of how the taxis will get around
to being fitted with the meters are being worked out.
Transport Director
Rajan Satardekar said “Awareness programmes of stakeholders including media
will be held before installation of meters”
“We have not
finalized this yet, but the taxi operators/owners could approach their
respective RTO or apply online and get an appointment for the fitment,” says a
senior official, wishing not to be named.
He says the fares to
be notified in a fortnight were passed by the government in June last year but
were pending the installation of digital meters which in turn was delayed by
issues in the tendering process and “some technical difficulty”.
“The fares have been
calculated based on wages of drivers, fuel price and cost of vehicle,” says the
official. He adds, “I think all stakeholders, including representatives of taxi
unions, were consulted”. “No we weren’t. We have not been taken into confidence
at all,” says Joe Alfonso, vice president of the South Goa Tourist Taxi
Association.
Association president
Vincent Carvalho explains that the Manohar Parrikar regime in 2016 had promised
taxi operators in the state that a committee would be formed to address their
issues. “That committee was formed and was supposed to meet every week. It
never did,” he says.
Chetan Kamat of the
Association of Tourist Taxi Owners of Goa, formed early last year, says the
government has “never consulted” them about fares or meters.
Stressing that the
taxi associations are not against standardized fares or digital meters,
Carvalho says it’s the lack of transparency in the decision-making process that
is the issue.
Explaining the
tourist taxi business in Goa, Alfonso says, “We are tourist taxis attached to
starred hotels and the beaches. The business we generate is not from Goans.
It’s from tourists. There are different types of cars, from high-end to
ordinary, operating as taxis; can you standardize the fare?”
Carvalho adds, “We
are self-employed. Why do you want us to work for someone else whether GoaMiles
or Ola? They are big businesses and have fleets of cars and they make their
drivers work as per their rules. We earn our daily living from our one taxi.”
This however is not
strictly correct. App based taxi companies like Ola, Uber etc. do not own their
own fleets. Taxi owners operate under their banner with their own cars. And
they are free to do their own businesses as well including tying up with other
app based providers.
So why are their
rates so high? Xavier Fernandes, also with the association, says, “We go by the
gazetted rates set by the government.”
Carvalho adds, “That
rate and the rates of the specific hotel we are attached to. Our rates are
based on the kilometre-wise fare table set by the hotel a taxi is attached to.
And we charge a two-way fare.”
It’s the latter that
spikes up the tourist taxi fare as compared to app-based taxi services that
charge a one-way fare.
Carvalho says this
fare is needed. “The two-way fare enables us to make a long-distance journey to
say Panaji (from Utorda) and not have to wait there for a customer travelling
to the South. That way, customers in the North can give their patronage to North
Goa taxis,” says the 62-year-old.
Pointing out that
GoaMiles and rent-a-vehicle services have deeply eaten into the limited tourist
transportation business, he asks if the government will step in to help taxi
operators earn a living. “We will have to take a call on what to do once the
government releases the fares,” he says.
“Very unhappy” about
the court disposing its contempt petition, Savio Messias of TTAG says, “We
really tried to convince the Judge to let the petition remain till the
government actually carries out its latest assurance.”
He hopes that the
government will “not delay anymore” and this issue is sorted out “because it is
one of the reasons for the decline in tourists to Goa”.
“People
feel cheated. And it has created other problems. It has led to rent-a-vehicle
services, which in turn cause road congestions and force locals to deal with
maniac tourist riders/drivers,” says Messias, adding, “Just as a client has a
choice of hotels, he/she should have a choice of transportation, be it a taxi,
Ola, Uber, whatever. After all even Goa’s local transportation is poor.”
