PANAJI: Claiming that it would not benefit them, taxi owners have rejected the state government’s plan to come up with an app-based system for taxi services.
The North Goa Tourist Taxi Owners Association (NGTTOA) has rejected the idea of a smartphone app-based taxi service and claimed that operating taxis through the e-platform will not benefit them in the long run, as, according to them, there are fewer taxi users in Goa compared to other states.
The taxi owners have demanded that the state government start a pilot project with revised fares of the yellow-black and All Goa Tourist (AGT) taxis, which have been already fitted with a meter, instead of introducing a smartphone app to facilitate the availability of taxi services.
“We doubt whether the traditional taxi operators and newcomers will get repeat business if they start operating taxis under an app-based system. Also, under the existing fare rate, which has not been revised for years, the situation will become worse. Therefore, we would request the government to run the app-based system primarily on the AGT and yellow-black taxis on a trial basis to understand its feasibility and only then we will agree to run our taxis digitally,” vice president of NGTTOA Ravindra Vengurlekar said.
Considering the large number of vehicle population in the state and very few Goans using taxis, Vengurlekar said that he realised the need for installing meters with visible fare board at all prominent locations to bring in transparency. “We have been labelled as cheaters but we charge little lesser than the actual fare. It is wrong to think that converting the service into an online-based taxi operation system would create more business and be a game-changer, as there are many taxis attached to hotels that ferry guests and chances of other operators getting business is out of question,” he said.
He said that owning a taxi and being a part of the online taxi service is easy, but remaining on that platform for long is difficult. “Employing a driver and managing expenses is difficult and if the car meets with an accident, it will add to the woes. The government must carry out a survey to ascertain our net income and expenses and I challenge the government to find a single taxi operator making profits,” said Vengurlekar adding that profits can be made if a car gets a monthly business of over 10,000 kms. “Profit is possible if one gets a better per km rate, if the driver saves on fuel and if maintenance cost on the car and its tyres can be controlled. But all this is difficult to achieve. The government must revise the rates, as operating taxis with the existing rates is not feasible,” he said.
The NGTTOA vice president said that mobile app-driven cabs such as Uber and Ola provide deep discounts to consumers. “Unlike regular cabs which have to abide by the government-mandated ceilings on their minimum and maximum fares, cab aggregators like Ola and Uber are not regulated under the Motor Vehicle Act, thereby allowing them to fix those limits. Also, the cab aggregators seem to charge higher fares through a practice known as surge pricing almost entirely at will despite efforts by certain states to curb the practice,” he said.
