Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s strong statement, “We will not buckle down to any sort of pressure from vested interests nor bog down to their demands to scrap the app-based taxi service. I request the local taxi operators who have not joined the initiative to sign up on GoaMiles, to join us,” indicates that the government will not relent and pander to the whims of the taxi lobby. This calls for a meeting between the taxi app service operators, the taxi operators and the government, where the government would act as a mediator to settle the issue.
There is a clear rift among politicians themselves over the taxi issue. The government – essentially the chief minister – is backing the app-based taxi service that is currently operational in Goa. Most other ministers and MLAs of the ruling dispensation have tacitly backed this by not opposing it. Dy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai has sought a win-win situation where Goans and tourists benefit, where the State adapts to technology but the service stays with Goans. The current GoaMiles is serviced by a non-Goan company. Dy Speaker Michael Lobo, MLAs Churchill Alemao and Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco are backing the taxi operators over the app-based service.
In the backdrop of the past experience, it is not possible to expect the taxi operators to change without a fight. There obviously are fears among the taxi operators of a loss of business, and this has to be dispelled if they are to be convinced to throw in their lot with the app-based service. There have to be discussions, there have to be acceptance of arguments of the other and all doubts cleared. Essentially, what Congress did last week by meeting the taxi associations to dialogue with them and understand their opposition to the taxi-app is what the government should have done.
What emerged from the meeting between the Congress and the taxi drivers is that they want the MLAs of the ruling dispensation to hear their worries. Whatever may be the reasons the taxi operators have, these have to be heard and addressed, especially if this will lead to a solution to the issue. The government cannot close its doors to the taxi operators and expect them to fall in line. While there appears to be a consensus among the people that the taxi operators have been overcharging, and the best option for Goa is an app-based cab service, the cabbies still have to be given a hearing. If there are issues that can be settled, then why shouldn’t there be a dialogue?
Their argument is that the fares charged by GoaMiles is not as per the rates published in the government gazette, while they charge the notified fare. By doing so, they argue, the government is ‘out to kill the Goans who have been involved in the business as a tradition’. There is a flaw here, as the taxi business has never been a traditional business, having really grown only after the advent of tourism from the 1980s onwards. Besides, the app-based service will engage local taxis, so the killing of Goans argument does not stand the test of reason.
Yet, and rather strangely, the demand for the app-based service has been because of exorbitants rates charged by the taxi operators. But if they claim they are charging the notified government rate, then can they be accused of overcharging? This is a matter that the government has to come clear on, failing which this issue will remain simmering and at a certain point come to a boil, something that should not be allowed to happen.
