NT Reporter
Panaji
Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho said the state’s long-pending taxi issue would be addressed by the government next year, after the Assembly elections.
“It is a legacy issue which the government has inherited. I have tried my level best to bring in taxi booking apps, but local
taxi drivers have said that they are Goenkars and should be allowed to run the business in their own way,” Godinho said while speaking at a Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) event on Wednesday.
Responding to a query from industry representatives on when taxi apps would be available in the state and on breaking the taxi monopoly, Godinho said, “The world is going digital but Goa is a rare place where taxi operators are not allowing apps. We should have had all taxi apps operating in the state by now and let the taxi business become competitive.”
Godinho indicated that with elections approaching, the government was unlikely to take up the issue immediately.
“Introducing it (taxi app) is something which I try to do every year. Now the issue will only be taken up after elections,” he said.
Speaking on public transport, Godinho said, “Public transport is a big problem in Goa. The government has not been able to acquire 500 buses as it had earlier envisaged. The central FLAME scheme to provide electric buses to states stopped abruptly. The state faced a paucity of funds to buy new public buses.”
He said the transport situation was likely to improve in the coming months as more public buses would be deployed on roads ahead of the elections.
Earlier, during the GSIA annual general meeting, GIDC Chairman Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco said the government expected support from industry during the upcoming elections.
“The GIDC supported industries in the state through widespread reforms encompassing several areas. Now it is time for industry to make the reciprocal (support) gesture,” he said.
