No fare meters, taxi owners to govt NT News Service Mapusa Jan 28: The Goa Tourist Taxi Association (GOTTA) today issued an ultimatum to the government to scrap the move to install meters on tourist taxis within eight days or face a street agitation. Their resolve was boosted further by the South Goa member of Parliament, Mr Churchill Alemao who promised to support their demand of scrapping meters and an equal share of the business with three days for taxi operators and three days for tour operators.
"Tourist taxis do not have meters anywhere in India. This meter idea has come from the tour operators," said Mr Alemao to wild cheers from the taxi operators who had gathered at the Calangute grounds in the first joint meeting of taxi operators from both North and South Goa. "Money is like feast decorations; here today, gone tomorrow but good deeds last. I will fight for you," Mr Alemao thundered. Stating that he had repeatedly told the Chief Minister, Mr Pratapsingh Rane that it was wrong to install meters on tourist taxis in Goa, Mr Alemao told the taxi operators that if they remained united, nobody would be able to shake them. "You don't need the government, the government needs you," he said. The Congress MP touched briefly upon the raging Mopa airport issue but fired shots galore against his supposed detractors, ironically, all from the Congress. If Mopa happens, not one of you will get to ply your taxis there but Sindhudurg will come up. He said Dabolim could easily be upgraded to have three runways. The GOTTA president, Mr Kennedy Goes threw an open challenge to the government warning it to scrap the meter-idea within eight days or risk a street agitation. He told the assembly of taxi operators that not one of them should install the meters on their taxis. He also said the hiked rates of Rs 10 per kilometre would not work since customers were not agreeable to the existing rate of Rs 8 per kilometre. Mr Goes said that for every Rs 1000 that taxi operators charged, the tour operators charged Rs 9000. The comparative statement of the tariff is with the High Court and the judiciary would give them justice, Mr Goes said. The GOTTA vice-president, Mr Vasudev Arlekar also spoke. "We did not ask the government for meters, neither did we ask for hiked rates. All we wanted was three days of the week, which is an equal share of the business." "All taxi operators from North Goa and the South are united and together, as sons of the Goan soil, we will not allow tour operators from robbing the sustenance of our families," Mr Arlekar said.
