Panaji, March 9 Goa Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho on Monday criticised the tourist taxi lobby for opposing app-based services, saying it was damaging the coastal state's tourism reputation.
The tourist taxi operators are not willing to use the apps, which is severely affecting services and bringing a bad name to the tourism industry, the minister informed the state assembly.
"We want all taxi operators to use the digital platform. We even agreed to their demand not to allow Ola and Uber services in the state. The taxi operators can use the existing Goa Miles and Goa Taxi App services, which are already operating in the state," he said.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao raised the issue in the House.
Godinho asked whether Goa was a separate republic that the taxi operators could refuse to be on board the online platforms.
"It is a matter of saving tourism in the state of Goa," he said, pointing out that the tourism sector is getting a bad reputation as visitors call the taxi operators "mafia".
The minister said the taxi sector needs to be regulated, noting that Goa records around four crore taxi trips annually.
Nearly 1.2 crore passengers use the taxi services in Goa every year, he noted.
Participating in the discussion, Alemao said 93 per cent of the taxi operators in Goa have objected to the draft guidelines for taxi aggregators in the state.
The state government should respect the sentiments of the people and scrap the draft guidelines, the Congress leader demanded.
Intervening in the discussion, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the guidelines for taxi aggregators in Goa are merely a draft and would be scrapped when the new taxi policy is in place.