Major taxi associations demand pre-installed speed governors from vehicle dealerships

PANJIM: Various taxi associations in Goa have collectively demanded that vehicle dealerships provide preinstalled speed governors or electronic control module (ECM) locking mechanisms for commercial vehicles. The demand comes as a response to the inconvenience and increased costs faced by taxi operators due to the current requirement of installing third-party speed limiting devices post-purchase.

The associations argued that this not only disrupts vehicle operations but also raises insurance premiums. They pointed out that according to the Motor Vehicles Act, vehicles used as taxis must have speed governors limiting speeds of the vehicle to 80 km per hour. The associations highlight that while some dealerships, like Mahindra, already offer company-fitted speed governors, others do not, causing disparity in the market. They urge dealerships to address this issue promptly and provide a suitable solution.

The tourist taxi association members went to a dealership and demanded that the taxis being sold by them be fitted with speed governors.

 Taxi driver Ramchandra Talkar who said he had given a demand draft of the full amount for purchase of a taxi to a dealership on Tuesday, said that he had received the sale letter yesterday. However, they have not fixed the speed governor for his vehicle saying that the person who fits the governors had not come. “If this was the case, they should not have sold the vehicle. I’m not sure if my vehicle will be registered. But my bank loan installments have started. So how will I pay the money? Till my vehicle comes on the road, I cannot do anything.”

Another taxi operator Yogesh Govekar, “Our only demand is, and we have told this to the chief minister that speed governors should be pre-installed. If we put the speed governor as an additional part, we have to face allegations that we have tampered with it. We request the government to ask the dealerships to pre-install the ECM and give a letter to the effect. Mahindra dealership does this. The vehicle does not exceed 80 km per hour speed. Is the government is getting commission by getting us to buy speed governors separately? We are not saying we do not want speed governors.”