Recently the Taxi Union lobby has threatened the government that if their demands are not met they will exhibit the result in the coming elections. What self confidence and audacity from a motley crowd of 30,000 taxi drivers union? Is blackmail the last nail in the coffin in their repository and will the government bend backwards to appease them? Besides the current dispensation every other political party has pandered to the taxi drivers union demands. When they are in opposition they toe the line of the union and when they are in power they indulge in dilly dallying without giving an unequivocal decision to this malady. There is non-Goan workforce in every industry, not just in the taxi business , so what logic is there in the statement that only Goans should be permitted to drive the taxis and that too without any meter and other modern Apps?
What exactly is the problem with the taxi drivers union? Why are they so reluctant to install the electronic meters and be GPS compliant? Why can’t they join the Goamiles app which is so user friendly and whose service itself is above board? Is it because the union believes in making a fast buck unfairly in limited working time of 8 hours in a day with siesta time and going back home for the evening round of the tavern? They should see the business practices of their counterparts in a city like Mumbai where the taxi and Rikshaw drivers ply their vehicle for 14 to 16 hours a day to make a decent living and always charge their customers what the meter displays without any foul play.
Hats off to such dedicated and sincere taxi/rickshaw operators unlike in Goa where the attitude of the taxi drivers is, “got a Catch, lets skin him/her”. That’s what exactly happens when one hails a taxi and unreasonably high rates are charged without any justification, besides return charges, night charges, all added up in the final bill. Leave alone tourists, even the locals are not spared of all these unjust and exploitative charges by this lobby. In such times one regrets for not having hailed the Goamiles app taxi which are so just and fair.
The taxi drivers union has given a bad name to the overall tourist reviews. So many adverse remarks are to be found in different platforms how the tourists were ripped off by the taxi operators. Every City in the world, besides, every touristic destination has a well organized metered taxi service where people experience friendly and helpful taxi drivers with no intention to exploit the visitors leaving a fair memory of the service the tourists received at the first point of entry of the tourist destination. Will our Taxi driver union see the reality as to how much damage they are doing to the tourist business and to themselves by their brash exploiting methods instead of being the goodwill ambassadors of the host country?
