It is almost as if a dam has burst. And this was waiting to happen. The ferocity with which people, and yes this includes Goans and those living here have responded to the online petition initiated by NRG (Non Resident Goan) Mahesh Sardesai, is the strongest possible indication that it is not just tourists but Goans, our sons and daughters, want a efficient taxi system, which is regulated and just and is not whimsically and politically driven.
This is a reaction of people who have been pushed to the wall. The unfairness of it all has hurt beyond a point. To not know how much it will cost to buy a ride from place A to B. To see prices quoted like a dream wish list almost on the point of extortion. To be threatened and beaten for deciding to chose one’s own mode of transport and then to be told that if you can pay Rs 10,000 for a hotel room or spend Rs 20,000 in a casino, why can’t you pay for a taxi ride. The difference that the local tourist taxi lobby, which has suffocated Goa’s tourism, do not seem to get this, or don’t want to, is that the hotel room, has a fixed price which is public and it is up to the tourists to decide if they want to spend that much or not. The choice of not choosing it and looking for another alternative lies with the tourist. The taxi drivers of Goa do not give the choice because their rates are ad hoc and a stranded tourist is forced to pay. This cannot be acceptable in any civilised society and no amount of protesting, threatening, abusing or even criticising newspapers like Herald, for holding the truth to the will change this.
The second argument that those pushing for Uber and Ola cabs, are against Goan interests, needs to be understood. Goans have no particular fascination for Uber or Ola cabs. All they seek is regulation and fixed process and the ease of a networked taxi service, which can well be run by Goans through an app based system which can be tracked. This is NOT a move to get two international taxi brands to come and ruin Goan business. But if Goa does not respond to the challenge, then the need of the people and the market to get existing networked taxis, which offer Goans the right to become licences, which let the Uber and Ola come in.
After all, does the taxi lobby alone have the copyright on deciding what Goan interests are? The opposition to their absolutely boorish behaviour of intimidation of tourists has come from ordinary Goans, as all our reports indicate. This online petition was not started by a foreigner but by a Goan and has found support with Goan signatories. Goan-origin NRI Mahesh Sardesai, Armando Gonsalves, Avelino D’Sa, Mahesh Sardesai and Milind Barve. And these Goan sons of the soil have concluded their petition, which has almost 6500 supporters and growing every minute like this. “We request that our elected representatives provide improved alternative which encourages innovation and competition instead of our broken taxi system and not to give in to the voice of Taxi drivers looting tourists and Goans. At least allow online taxi due to LACK of proper public transport system”.
These sons of the soil are as Goan, if not more Goan that the taxi lobby, so the bogey of corporate influence and pressure from giants like Uber and Ola are merely to divert focus from the key issue. And, there are thousands and thousands of Goans joining this petition. This is becoming a true people’s movement, a movement by Goans, for Goans and of Goans and the inward looking taxi lobby finds itself on the wrong side of this movement. One voice of the movement Beverley Noronha, a true blue Goan told the Herald reporter “Goa taxi service firstly is a rip-off. It reduces mobility and thus people (tourists) don’t want to venture out in Goa for the fear of not getting transport back. Why should we pay a ridiculous amount of money for a trip that should actually cost half of that?”
The irony is that they need not be. No Goan wants to see fellow Goans go out of business and suffer. The movement for a more organised and regulated and a fair taxi system involves getting this same tourist taxi lobby to embrace this regulated system. They will be the custodians of a new networked app based system. They have to be a part of a regulated system where the customer will chose the fare and pay for it online or in any other manner he chooses to.
What will change? The days of doing just one ride a day and fleecing the unlucky customer so much that no more rides are needed for the day. What will also change is new found respect of not just tourists but also Goans, who will support them and see that their business grows. In remote areas which are currently delinked from even the existing chaotic taxi transport system, people postpone dental appointments and operations toll when they can borrow a relatives car, an app based taxi service is vital. The penetration of smart phones and better connectivity only helps.
There are some decisions whose time has come, and there are some practices, whose time has gone. The Goan taxi operators have to accept a system which is universal and the people of Goa should make it fair for them and the customer, but fairness cannot be the licence to charge whimsical unregulated fares. A taxi system which can be tracked and is app based is a need, reality and a necessity.
