Panaji: The taxi strike called by All Goa Taxi Operators Union, which began on Friday, continued for second day on Saturday after police arrested a union leader for allegedly assaulting driver of GoaMiles, a cab aggregator service initiated by Goa Government.
Speaking to reporters before his arrest, union leader Bappa Korgaonkar said, “The strike will continue. I have been arrested on false charges. I will not seek bail and will continue to be in police lock up until the GoaMiles taxi aggregator service is scrapped by the government.”
The taxi operators had gone on strike on Friday as talks between Goa Government and private taxi operators on GoaMiles, failed to make any headway on Thursday.
The strike caused hardship to many passengers. However, government tried to save the day by plying more Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) buses.
According to an official of Airport Authority of India (AAI), airline companies were instructed to inform their inbound passengers about the strike before they boarded flights so that they were aware of the situation before hand.
He also said a 24X7 help desk had been set up at departure zone at the airport and passengers were being helped in downloading GoaMiles App on their mobile phone so that they could avail taxi service.
There were around 30,000 tourist taxis in the state and a major portion of them had been accused of overcharging, intimidating and operating almost without regulation.
Government’s efforts to install and implement fare-meter system had failed. Even August deadline set by High Court to install fare meters too could not be met.
Though Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had been firm on GoaMiles and made it clear that it would continue to exist, he appealed taxi unions to call off strike and either have their own app or join the cab aggretator service. (UNI)
