PANJIM: Director of Transport Rajan Satardekar on Friday said that the individual taxi operators will have to invest money for replacing the fuel-run vehicles with electric vehicles (EV) and the government will act as a facilitator for it.
Speaking to O Heraldo, Satardekar said, “The individual taxi owners would be investing in that. It is a private business model and the government is facilitator in that. Everybody has to care for the environment. It is not only the responsibility of the government to save this planet. Government will be giving incentives. Like we have given 100 per cent tax waiver on electric vehicles, irrespective of their types. Whatever vehicle you purchase, motor vehicle tax is zero. This is the regulation from the government but the investment has to come from the private sector only,” he said.
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Speaking about the app, he said for the first time the multimodal transport system has arrived in the State.
“GoaMiles will be investing Rs 100 crore for developing a technology and platform. They have a huge set up and an office with a technical team sitting there. There are operators and call centres,” he said.
Satardekar said the government’s plan is to take, apart from the petrol vehicles, electric vehicles, which are environment friendly, on the GoaMiles platform. He said GoaMiles will be facilitating youth to own a vehicle without any investment.
“You can own a taxi without having a single paisa, without having credit for business. GoaMiles will take surety. If I as an employed youth go to the bank for a loan, I should have creditworthiness, last three years’ income tax returns, among other things. But with GoaMiles, with zero investment, I can own a taxi and when the business starts, I start repaying,” he said.
The Director of Transport said the incentives are for those who join GoaMiles, whether they are existing players or a newcomer. “The GoaMiles is facilitating the youth to own a vehicle without any investment or credit score, income tax return. Government will support the industry,” he said.
The plan is to have all Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTC)-operated buses, including those run under ‘Mhaji Bus Scheme,’ on GoaMiles platform.
