PANJIM: The tourist taxi operators’ lobby has decided to wait and watch the response for the upcoming app-based taxi service scheduled to be launched in Goa from next month, as they feel that such kind of facility does not have any future in the State.
For a change, the taxi operators have not announced or resorted to fresh protest after the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) recently declared to launch “Goamiles” app next month. Instead, they are eagerly waiting for its launch.
“It is a good initiative. Let the GTDC start this app. We will see the fun when the people (taxis registered with this app) will cry for business. We are not a metro city wherein such an app would be feasible. I am sure that the app will not work in Goa,” North Goa Tourist Taxi Association President Vinayak Nanoskar told Herald.
From around 18,000 tourist taxis registered in the State, quite a few have joined the service but Nanoskar says he is not perturbed. “Let the taxi operators join the GTDC app. They will regret joining the app. It is not easy to operate such a system in Goa,” he reiterated.
However, while keeping a tab on the response of this forthcoming app, the association might give it a competition by launching its own app.
Goa will join other states in offering App-based taxi service to the visitors from next month onwards as Goa Tourism Development Corporation will launch the App-based taxi initiative in the State.
A strong force of 2,800 licenced taxi drivers is set to join this service of booking taxi using App.
“Currently the app is in final stages of testing in actual conditions. 2800 licenced taxi drivers in Goa have already expressed interest in using the app and the number is expected to grow further as passenger demands swell. The project is expected to bring relief to tourists looking for convenient modes of transportation,” Tourism Minister Manohar Azgaonkar had said claiming it would bring in a revolutionary change.
