NT Reporter
Panaji
The meeting held on Thursday between the Goa government and the tourist taxi associations remained inconclusive, with no decision on the proposed digital taxi policy and both the sides agreeing to continue with the discussions.
The meet decided to appoint a joint committee comprising three officials of the transport department and members of the taxi associations to deliberate further on various aspects to resolve the issue.
The meeting, which was held at the Mantralaya in Porvorim, was chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and attended by Minister for Transport Mauvin Godinho, Minister for Tourism Rohan Khaunte, MLAs Michael Lobo and Kedar Naik, senior officials and members of 35 taxi
associations.
The meet focused on the government’s proposal to introduce a digital taxi framework aimed at bringing uniformity and transparency in fares across the state. Several taxi operators, however, expressed reservations over the possible introduction of a third taxi application and insisted that the existing apps should be scrapped before any new system is implemented.
Taxi associations demanded that the government first discontinue the GoaMiles app before taking forward discussions on the new digital taxi policy.
Representatives of the taxi associations said they will consult members of other associations and gather their suggestions and views, which will later be placed before the committee expected to be constituted by the
government.
The Chief Minister said that the draft digital taxi policy is intended to benefit both, taxi operators and tourists and added that it has received a positive response from several stakeholders. He expressed confidence that once the committee is in place, the issues raised by operators will be resolved and the policy framework will move forward.
Sawant further said that the next round of the meeting with taxi operators is scheduled to be held on April 9.
Khaunte said the concerns raised by taxi associations regarding technology integration were addressed during the discussion. He said the government’s aim is to bring all taxi operators on a single platform with uniform fares across Goa.
Speaking after the meeting, Lobo said taxi fares should be uniform and transparent across the state, with rates made available on a digital platform accessible to the public. He said some taxi associations have already agreed in principle to the proposal discussed during the meeting.
