In the midst of the tourist season, that has already been severly hit by the crash of Thomas Cook UK, there appears to be little of good news for the industry. First it was the crash of the leading charter operator from England that brought thousands of tourists to Goa, then the delayed opening of the beach shacks due to the failure to have the Coastal Zone Management Plan in place and in time, and after that the strike by a section of the lifeguards that led to some drownings in the waters off the beaches of Goa. That’s not all, it is now the attacks on the app-based taxi service drivers that does nothing to inspire confidence among tourists who may be using the service while holidaying in the State.
In the last few weeks, there have been sporadic attacks on the drivers of the GoaMiles app-based taxi service, allegedly by the tourist taxi operators. The app-based taxi drivers have not retaliated, but a group of them has sought Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s intervention to protect them from the tourist taxi lobby, and also met the Transport Director to narrate what has been transpiring. The company has now warned that it will move the court on illegal stands outside hotels if the attacks on their drivers do not stop. It should not come to that, but then these taxi stands are definitely illegal, so how is the government going to tackle this new aspect that has entered the issue?
What happens next depends on how the government reacts to this. In the past, governments have given in to the tourist taxi operators lobby, but the current government has been firm in its backing of the app-based service, as it provides travellers with a better option when journeying within the State. This is the same government that has resolutely backed the service, even staying late into the night in the House to debate the app-based service, and putting all its might behind it. Those words spoken in the House should now reverberate on the streets when the taxi drivers of the app-based service are being singled out for attacks. It isn’t enough to speak well of and promote a service, if the business is then not given the protection it requires.
However, it is not just how this will affect tourism in the State and protection to the drivers that matters, but this involves law and order. There have been attacks and this is something that the government has to tackle firmly. The drivers of the taxi service have also alleged that the tourist taxi drivers have been demanding that the GoaMiles drivers produce their licences, a job that is of the police or of the transport inspectors. Frankly, this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. A taxi operator that is meeting all legal provisions should be allowed to carry on the business without any interference by forces that are outside the law.
Action from the government must be forthcoming. First, the authorities must warn the tourist taxi operators that they will not take kindly to any more attacks on the app-based taxi drivers. Other than that, the law has to be followed and cases registered against the attackers and taken to a logical conclusion. In a civil society, such behaviour cannot be excused and if action is not taken it can only worsen the situation, which the State neither needs nor desires. A little competition does not harm any business. The taxi operators have to learn to ride with the rivalry in a spirit of competitiveness, rather than antagonism.
