State government plans bigpush for app-based taxis

Staff Reporter

Panaji

In the midst of opposition by taxi operators to app-based services employed by some of the tourist taxis, the state government has come up with a draft rule to consider app-based aggregators as taxi fare meters.

The Directorate of Transport has issued a notification proposing an amendment to the Goa Motor Vehicle Rules, 1991 by which the app itself will be considered as fare meter for cabs operating under app-based aggregators. This implies that taxi operators using app-based services would not require installation of a separate fare meter in the cab.

The proviso “Provided that, if the motor cab is operating under an app-based aggregator, the app may be considered as fare meter for the purpose of this rule, and the need for a printer shall not be mandatory in case the app has functionality to provide SMS/email-based invoices” is proposed to be added to Rule 140 of the Motor Vehicle Rules, notification issued by director and ex-officio additional secretary of Transport P Pravimal Abhishek, IAS, states.

Objections and suggestions, if any, to the draft rule are to be sent within 15 days to the Director of Transport, Junta House, Panaji, the government has said.

The rules may be called the Goa Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2025 and will come into force on the date of their final publication in the official gazette.

It may be noted that many cab operators have been opposing app-based taxi services in the state. Instances of fights occurring between the normal taxi operators and app-based aggregators over customers’ pick-up and drop have been reported several times in various parts of the state.