As Goans there has been a lot on our plates lately. Various issues are being tackled simultaneously. One such issue local to Goa is the bitter-sweet impending decision of regulating taxi fares with compulsory fare meters and the possible entry of Ola and Uber into the Goan market in the near future.
Changes are welcome. However the change should be well justified. In this case it is. The taxi ‘mafia’ as we call it has given a bad name to the state in terms of tourism. Even as a local I end up being steeply overcharged for the use of taxis. The absence of a fare meter is not only unfair to the passenger, but the resistance of the drivers’ association to install meters is a clear display of holding the system at ransom.
In my view the meters should be made absolutely compulsory. The authorities should allow no scope of discussion here. However, to be fair to the driver and passenger, the fares should be set so as to be mutually beneficial to both. There should be a pre-set rate per km. Very very importantly it should be noted that we are not a metropolitan place. So it has to be considered that the driver on his return trip may have to come empty, unlike Mumbai, for example, where passengers are everywhere. Lets say I hire a taxi from Margao to some obscure corner of say Curtorim. We can actually say for sure that the driver will have to return to Margao empty after dropping me. So the fare should be set in such a way where it does justice to him as well.
But again, installing meters should be absolutely compulsory. No scope for refusing whatsoever.
About the entry of radio-controlled app-based taxi services like Ola and Uber, the decision is difficult. We cannot outright oppose to this. Nor can we allow liberal entry in the Goan market. This decision should be very careful micro-managed. If we allow unrestricted entry of international players in this sector it will very badly affect our current Goan driver workforce, many of whom are the only bread winners in their respective families.
One of our political leaders has come up with a nice plan of converting part of our own taxis into radio-controlled service first, with our Goan drivers. Maybe on an experimental basis. But a wonderful proposal nevertheless. In this way we as Goans will nicely get used to and comfortable with a new age taxi service. And after some time we slowly let the new entrants come in, making sure that everything is set in such a way where resistance is minimum and all the parties involved are mutually benefited. This way, the transition will be nice and smooth.
Having said that, I would sincerely like to request all those who are blindly opposing any of the changes to please think once again. A mutually satisfying arrangement can be reached. An arrangement where both, the driver and the passenger wins.
I empathise with the drivers who rely on their taxis to earn their daily bread, but I sympathise with the passengers who have been paying through their nose for far too long now.
Let us together find a common ground..!
