Team Herald
PONDA: The taxi operators in Ponda under the Maruthi Taxi Association operating from the stand near Sun Inn Hotel, on Saturday stayed off the road demanding that GoaMiles app be scrapped.
On account of the ongoing strike, tourists visiting Ponda found difficulty in reaching their destinations.
President of Maruthi Taxi Association, Baban Sawanth, who is also vice president of All Goa Taxi Association said, “This is not our strike, but our taxi owners willingly went off the roads to protest the injustice. We are in this business for a long time, but recently the introduction of the Goa Miles app has affected our livelihood. The taxi drivers under this app are eating into our business. Most taxi drivers under this app are migrants and till government scraps the app, we will not withdraw our agitation.”
He said, “Goan taxi drivers charge Rs 900 only to drop passengers at the airport and return without passengers. We don’t wait for passengers on our return journey. This helps our Goan taxi operators to get regular customers. Thus at both ends, the local taxi operators benefit. But on the other hand, the Goa Miles App drivers charge Rs 850 to drop the passengers from airport to Ponda and on their return journey; they take passengers by earning another Rs 850. The local taxi operators earn only Rs 950 and have no customers on their return journey. Thus they deprive the taxi operators operating from Ponda stand of their customers.
He accused several private taxi operators of disguising themselves as Goan taxi operators by charging exorbitant amount and by defaming the local cabbies especially during night trips. “We complained to RTO and government several times but there is no action coming from authorities”, he claimed.
