Herald: What made the TTAG to approach the courts on the issue of taxi meters?
Ralph De Souza : The government had decided long time back and they have already made announcement that they will put up meters. It was a policy decision but not implemented. What the TTAG has asked the court is to direct the government to implement its decision of fixing meters along with GPS system. Because they were dragging their feet on the implementation of their own decision, TTAG had to spend a lot of money and go to the court only to ensure that government executes whatever it has decided to do. And it was supported by the GCCI and the public at large.
Herald: How is your industry getting affected due to the issue?
RDS: It is not the tourism industry per se but the guests who come to Goa who are being affected because they are totally unsure of what the rates are because there are no meter system. The industry does not alone stand to lose or gain but it is Goa’s image which is at stake. In fact, the taxis survive on the hotels and the travel companies that bring these tourists.
Herald: What precisely is the issue which has led to the confrontation?
RDS: The thing is that there should be a system in place and it is free for all. There are multiplicity of rates. There is one rate of black and yellow, there is another one for coastal tourist taxis and there is one for tourist taxis. This is so confusing. We are not asking the government to give higher or lower rates, it should be standardized and metered. So whatever the state decides, the industry has no problem. The only problem is the ambiguity. It is quite obvious that as a customer, one would be comfortable sitting in a taxi which has meter instead of a taxi which does not have one.
Herald: Then why is there confrontation within the industry?
RDS: It is a territorial war between the taxi operators itself. You have a cake and there are number of people eating the same. The more people you invite, the less portion you get to eat of the cake. In fact, we had adviced the government to freeze the number of taxi licenses.
