We have over 7500 signatures but still need more, so please inform your friends and relatives to sign the petition. While we have received no response from our beloved Chief Minister Manoharbhai, there have been threats against Mahesh from the General Secretary of North Goa Tourist Taxi Owners Association Vinayak Nanoskar as per article published in Times of India - see url at end. People of Goa are known for their simplicity, peace loving and tolerant ways. The Taxi empire is taking advantage of their simplicity and will bring down the whole state of Goa along with themselves in future. Half of the Goan population is either directly or indirectly involved in tourism activities. Every place in the world I have been is improving the transportation services whereas Goa is getting worse day by day. Here are views of the team based on comments so far as we try to get to the core of the issue. Here are the options being debated. OPTION 1: OLA/UBER OPEN TO "COMPETITION" This is clearly what 99% of the population of Goans wants - this is the ONLY option where the biggest advantage is cashless transactions. It eliminates illegal "HAPTA" to Administration, "commissions" from hotels as well as connected links of taxi business to drugs & prostitution. This option will also diminish role of the Taxi union leaders who are a threat to Goan Society. It will reduce taxi income of direct/indirect investment in taxi of union leaders, government officers, et al (info to be verified by govt). Taxi union leaders are opposing OLA/UBER and misguiding the taxi drivers and brainwashing the public in different ways so that they can continue their current empire. They are instigating taxi drivers. Moreover, whoever supported this option on FB, the taxi lobby has openly threatened them and accused them as idiots, OLA Agents, pack of hyenas, lost mental balance, etc. The driver benefits are in article "What is OLA UBER …" and the video "How to start Business with OLA …." - url below. For example in the OLA/UBER system driver has much more flexibility and can decide to work whenever he wants to, does not have to go to taxi stand and he/she can switch off device when he is unavailable. The Taxi Union/Government should facilitate taxi driver awareness sessions from OLA UBER in Goa. The biggest advantage of opening up to OLA/UBER is it reduces the role of the taxi union the empire that has made its rules like "close down bus to airport", "only taxi is allowed to pick guests from hotel/airport not friends", "We charge high because hotels charge", etc. Given the simple nature of Goans, these laws can easily become accepted practice. Governments all over the world find out ways to privatise with open competition, so that consumer who has elected them gets the best pricing and technology. This is also the fundamental right of Goans as per Indian constitution. It's not worth the time and effort of government to fixing charge per kilometer, taxi meter selection/testing, fare tables, etc and this should be determined by market forces. It is strange that Goa government wants to get involved, equally strange given the history that they could never agree on fares with taxi union for decades. There are few individuals who own too many taxis and have become very powerful vested interests and this monster has grown too big to handle as confirmed by open threats. For public verification, would the Government make the list of all those who own licensed vehicles publicly available so it is easy to figure out and track and identify vested interests within union leaders, Goa administration, etc. Or an independent body should look into this data - names and addresses together with heat map analytics should help. It is fair to distribute the benefit of licensed vehicles across more of the population for a better economy. This will also reduce the opposition to world class system Goans need - also the option as per Central Government Guidelines in the recent bill passed in Lok Sabha - Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2016. OPTION 2: GOA TAXI ASSOCIATION APP Various professionals have stated this is an impossible task to develop app from scratch and needs crores of rupees and long time if developed, so Taxi union can develop their own app but only after competition is allowed from OLA/UBER. If not this app will be controlled by the taxi empire. The taxi association cannot agree on fare table and meters for decades, are they capable of working on complex thing like taxi app ? It would be good to tie up with Mumbai (Kaali Peeli) or Delhi(Baxi) et al to reduce cost and timeline but should be allowed only after open competition from OLA/UBER. Also there is a url at the end on how to develop taxi app, but only after competition is allowed. In the debate on FB there is also a blame game that IT guys have not setup IT hub (to create taxi app), only shows that the key people from Taxi lobby don’t have a clue about extent of work involved. The biggest risk with this option is that as the same union leaders will control the app and based on track record, the app will be conveniently down, app could be not working, driver will says I don’t know how to use it. Think St. Inez traffic signals which never work - to get an idea. In the end Goans will have same issue as now with cash collection and its corresponding evils of Hapta, commission, etc. The taxi empire will have their own rules and in the end Goa will not get the needed system to leverage tourism. OPTION 3: DIGITAL TAXI METERS Goan people who are OK with this are people who have never experienced OLA/UBER and for them something is better than nothing. Taxi meters have the problem that due to cash payment all the illegal dealings of hapta, commissions, taxi monster will continue. Besides, digital meters don't give us convenience of ordering taxi on smartphone. And rider cannot provide feedback, so let's not invest into something obsolete . And then there are old excuses that meter is not working, I don’t know how to use it, etc. Besides these proprietary meters will be expensive to maintain in the long run and are not needed with OLA/UBER as it is on smartphone. Also this option is not in line with cashless society to eliminate corruption. Finally, it is sad that taxi union monster has grown so big that even the government cannot handle it. This monster is killing the LAST business that Goa has to offer which is Tourism with taxi as its backbone and as we see it decline in both - Taxi as well as Tourism. Ref. last 2 articles on declining tourism. The root cause of this would be Taxi empire. The question to ask is should vested interests of few decide the options for the entire population ? There is a conflict of interests and the elected representatives are silent on the option that Goans have overwhelmingly selected. Also those who have not experienced UBER/OLA like union leaders and even elected representatives, should they really part of the decision process ? Please check the viral video of misinformation with instigated taxi driver - "how we will survive if OLA UBER are allowed ?". It's got a fitting reply. As a suggestion, if this is an issue, the tax collection from OLA/UBER system could be used for retraining/resettling/retiring existing taxi drivers for whoever needs it. https://www.facebook.com/groups/bettergoa/permalink/1331894150191322/ -Say No TO OLA AND UBER CAB SERVICE 16 May 2017 Citizen step up fight for app-based taxi service in state - News item http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/citizen-step-up-fight-for-app-based-taxi-service-in-state/articleshow/58689751.cms?from=mdr 16 May 2017 Goa's Taxi wars set to escalate --- News item http://www.itsgoa.com/goas-taxi-wars-set-escalate/ 8 May 2017 WHAT IS OLA AND UBER? HOW THEIR ENTRY WILL AFFECT THE BUSINESS OF LOCAL TAXI DRIVERS AND OPERATORS IN GOA? -- Public Information https://www.goaprism.com/ola-uber-entry-affect-business-local-taxi-drivers-goa/ OLA Cab Business - How to Start Business With Ola By Attaching Your Car And Earn More Then Lakhs -- Taxi driver information https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvy3aoIwZw8 https://partners.olacabs.com/ -- Taxi driver information https://yalantis.com/blog/uber-expertise-taxi-booking-mobile-app-development/ -- How to build taxi booking app http://www.vishvatimes.com/goa-tourism-badly-hit-curb-promotional-junkets-cm-told/ -- Goa tourism badly hit http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Foreign-tourist-arrivals-nosedive-still-further/articleshow/50617949.cms -- Foreign tourist arrivals nosedive