Team Herald
PANJIM: The statement of taxi operators wanting only four trips in a day has evoked criticism from various quarters of the tourism industry.
The stakeholders from the industry have requested the government to sit across the table with taxi operators and explain the operations of the Goa Taxi App for better prospects of tourism in Goa.
Tourist taxi operators from Pernem, who met Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte over starting the Goa Taxi App service from the Mopa airport stated that they do not want to slog it out 24×7 and would like to rest after four taxi trips.
The taxi operators added that they’re not in the habit of working 24×7 unlike the other taxi operators in Goa while strongly opposing App-based taxis in Goa. The taxi group called ‘Together for Mopa Airport’ threatened to stage a protest on January 2 if their demands are not met.
Heritage Promoter Sanjeev Sardesai while replying to the statements said that Goa is an international tourist destination and that the people working in this sector cannot put a time limit on the services.
“Lots of people have lost businesses due to Covid and the tourism industry is helping us to earn. These statements are sending the wrong message to the world. Time is money and if they continue to have this attitude, it will affect the whole tourism industry,” he added.
Orlando Nunes from Trailblazers said that the taxi operators have understood the whole concept in a different way.
“You can choose your trips and not need to work all day. Somebody in the Government needs to sit along with the taxi operators association and explain the operations of the app instead of saying no to it,” he said.
While countering the arguments Secretary of the AGTTOA Tulsidas Phadte said “Goa is not like a metro city where there is a huge working population which will use the taxis on a daily basis. I can surely say that if an app-based taxi drops a passenger from Mopa to Panjim, he is not going to get a passenger back to Mopa. Goa doesn’t have that kind of volume,” he said.
