Goa Taxi revolution team has been trying to get appointment for discussion/open debate from CM Manohar Parrikar but he has always declined and has now said the issue is "sub judice". Some of the other Ministers/MLAs we approached also declined any discussion/open debate. How can the issue be "sub judice meaning prohibited from public discussion" and decision be based on the vested interests who want to loot the public ? Tour operators want to continue to loot the public and collect "cash" without paying any taxes. Investigation is required on how many of these are directly owned by TTAG members and also owned by which of the Goa's 40 MLA's from ruling and previous governments. The fleet of taxis they own provide regular income from the looting the public and tourists. If the Chief Minister and advisors go through the petition and all petition updates this issue and demands can also be clearly understood in full depth. People should know that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is not the same as Manoharbhai we knew before and there have been enough stress on this in social media from previous well wishers have changed their opinion. What is needed here is common sense to understand who has vested interests and who wants to keep looting the public. Taxi meters are first of all obsolete and every city in the world and India have stopped installing taxi meters. Even the motor vehicle act recommends aggregator taxis which are app based. Meters provide a means to collect cash and not pay taxes like Ola/Uber/Mega. As people depend on App based taxis with lower fares business will increase and this will be DECENT source of revenue than Casinos or Delhi doleout. Goa needs sustained Tourism business which has to grow with taxis as backbone with competitive prices available in 80 other cities in India Besides the Taxi union can one fine day decide they will not use meters based on the flimsy complaint and again we are back to current status fleecing customers. Only if competition is allowed with Ola/Uber, taxi/tour operators don’t matter and will fall in line due to competition. Meters provide a means of extortion by taking longer route and tourists can be easily fleeced. There is a kingpin in Goa who is charging 37 pounds per passenger in foreign exchange cash for trip to waterfall and entire income goes out of Goa without paying anything by way of taxes. There are also kickbacks expected from purchase of taxi meters and this will be the Bofors of state of Goa. Other issue with taxi meter is having to go to taxi stand somebody has to drop the person there causing traffic congestion people cannot afford. Besides taxis will not be available at odd hours specially for emergencies. It protects the goon taxi drivers instead of providing employment for genuinely interested people to use their own cars as taxis providing performance rating related service to have happy tourists and local people like any other 80 cities in India. It does not provide secure tracking based ride which is needed for security of our tourists and locals. Taxi drivers also are more relaxed with app based system being available from wherever they are and when they feel like working rather than having to crowd the heart of city/bus stand and causing traffic congestion. Here is our response to the news article, url is at the end. NEWS ARTICLE: Chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday assured the House that the government will resolve all taxi-related issues by September 30. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: Why Sept 30 ? Here is the timeline of our efforts: 25 Apr - Petition was filed, 28 Apr - Nilesh Cabral said GTDC to develop own app, 30 Apr - Azgaokar said local taxi owners interest to be protected, Sudin Dhavlikar said Taxis to install digital meters, 3 May - Michael Lobo asked Taxi assoc to develop their own app, 4 May - Vijay Sardesai tells Taxi owners to upgrade yourself, says matter will be discussed in Goa Assembly on 10 May but nothing is discussed. 9 May - Taxi association submitted petition but Parrikar denied prior appointments and refused to meet the team although he was in the office, 24 May - we met with Parrikar at his residence and he threw a googly saying "like in cricket he will score at right time" and issue will be resolved mid June. 27 May - Taxi owners rejected request from MLA's to develop their own app 12 Jun - TTAG court case postponed with Government asking more time to resolve the issue 17 Jun - Parrikar had promised to discuss issue with Taxi association after panchayat election but nothing was done 18 Jul to 7 Aug - Taxi issue could have been openly discussed in the Goa Legislative Assembly but it is being postponed cowardly In short - in May we are told that he will discuss and resolve the issue in Jun after Panchayat election. In June TTAG court hearing govt asks more time. Its only a way of keep on collecting more loot from public and tourists. In Jul he says he will resolve by Sep. There will be more surprises in Sept while people's quality of life and tourism related businesses suffer without paying anything by way of tax collection.After election, forget talking to him, he has refused to discuss the issue from public point of view and want to support the looters. Question is whether people should trust Mr. Manohar Parrikar. NEWS ARTICLE: The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) had approached the court seeking direction to the government to install digital meters in taxis and the matter is sub judice, he said. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: This court case is old and when Citizens for change team met with TTAG they have agreed in principle that App based taxi is a better option. The tour operators want to continue looting the public and some of these are owned by or have links with TTAG members/Goa's 40 MLA's from ruling and previous governments. How can the matter be "sub judice" without hearing public opinion from citizens for change ? NEWS ARTICLE: Intervening in the discussion on the private member resolution moved by Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral that the House strongly recommended that the government install meters in all taxis in Goa forthwith, Parrikar said the government cannot discuss or give a reply on the issue as it is sub judice. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: How can the issue be "sub judice" when some of the 40 MLA's own fleets of taxis directly or indirectly and want to continue looting the public ? Is Goa under dictatorship ? NEWS ARTICLE: The TTAG had sought directions to the government so that tourists, as well as locals, are not overcharged as the state is earning a bad name on account of the high-handedness of certain taxi operators. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: The tour operators with direct links to TTAG members are vested interests and want to continue to loot the public. They should not decide for general public. Government should provide a solution to what public needs. An OPINION POLL is needed as public opinion of 15 lakh people is very clear and if government has any doubt on what people need or have rights as per constitution. NEWS ARTICLE: Parrikar said tourism in the state has grown over a period and that the government is targeting a tourist footfall of 12 million to the state. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: Targeting 12 million tourists to the state is welcome, they will be looted and give a bad name to the state further deteriorating tourism. This does not solve the problem of local population needing taxis. NEWS ARTICLE: "I promise the members of the House that, from September 1, I will start meeting stakeholders, including the members of the House, to resolve the issue. All 40 MLAs will be called for a series of meetings and by September 30 we will come out with a final solution," he said, adding that taxi-related issues are critical for the state and for state tourism. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: Primary stakeholders are people of Goa and by declaring issue as "sub judice" Mr. Parrikar has said it is not open to public debate. Some of the 40 MLA's own fleets of taxis directly or indirectly and want to continue looting the public. How can matter be decides based on discussions with MLA's ? This issue will become like "Coconut tree is grass" issue and should be based on listening to the voice of the public rather than looters. People of Panaji boycott the election or vote for a better candidate. NEWS ARTICLE: After the assurance, the CM requested Cabral to withdraw the resolution and accordingly, the resolution was withdrawn. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: This was an excellent opportunity to expose the vested interest of the MLA's so Goans can hear which MLA has vested interest. The leadership has FAILED to use the platform of Goa Legislative Assembly on matter that is very important to the day to day life of the public. The elected representatives are hiding, afraid to talk and continue looting. NEWS ARTICLE: Earlier speaking on the resolution, Cabral said 90% of the taxi operators are good and that only 4% of the taxi operators were spoiling the state's name. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: How are these figures supported ? Is it the opinion of Mr Cabral to continue looting the public ? And what about the remaining 6% ? According to the comments to the petition from public 90% of the taxi operators are BAD. NEWS ARTICLE: The Curchorem MLA said taxi operators should charge fares as per the metre and that Goa is the only state charging fares on point-to-point basis. "We don't want app-based taxi operators in the state," he said, adding that since taxis overcharge, tourists were opting for two-wheelers. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: The current taxi business model clearly does not meet the requirement of the customer, the 15 lakh goans and requirements are same as any place in India. Mr Cabral you are twisting matters to say that Goa is different to continue looting the public. Yes tourists are opting for 2-wheelers because taxis loot and this is only suited for individuals, not for families, besides tis causes more accidents. Students use 2-wheelers out of compulsion because they cannot afford taxis. This is one of the points that Taxi goons are complaining about because they are loosing their loot and Mr Cabral is happy to make a statement with it. Mr. Cabral, everything that the GTDC has tried with you as chairman so far has failed, be it the women taxi service, the amphibious buses, the seaplanes, etc. NEWS ARTICLE: Cabral said if tourism fails in the state, taxi operators will have to abandon their taxis like how the trucks had been abandoned after the mining ban. CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: Mr. Cabral tourism doom and mining ban are completely different issues and it would be foolish to compare them. This statement is even more foolish as it is a serious matter and government has failed to provide public transport ever since liberation and people's day-to-day quality of life is seriously affected. For mining, the owners are the single beneficiaries and truck owners were compensated based on competition. The customer was abroad, there was no alternative for trucks like aggregators. In the current situation of tourism doom, the direct beneficiaries are Taxi association, Tour operators, Fleet owners of TTAG and Goa MLA's. The customer is Goa's population who elected you in good faith. And there is an option of allowing Taxi aggregators to solve the problem without spending anything and also at the same time collect taxes and bring about a boom in tourism which will benefit half of Goa's population. This type of comparison is not expected from elected representative who should be visionary in taking state forward with determination, not justify that taxi thugs will make it survive on their own. Please see articles below, somehow the Taxi union and Tour operator vested interests providing kickbacks are dictating terms to Parrikar Government as they want to relax speed governors in taxis as per second article below. Also there is a video about the politicians should handle the issue like Singapore Airlines instead of hiding and cowardly declaring the issue sub judice. 29 Jul 2017 Will resolve taxi issue by Sept 30, CM Manohar Parrikar tells House http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/will-resolve-taxi-issue-by-sept-30-cm-tells-house/articleshow/59815578.cms 29 Jul 2017 Goa's over-charging taxis may be a thing of the past soon http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/aftermarket/goas-over-charging-taxis-may-be-a-thing-of-the-past-soon/59821437 27 Jul 2017 Govt aims to relax speed governors in taxis rule: CM https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/Govt-aims-to-relax-speed-governors-in-taxis-rule-CM/118149.html 27 Jul 2017 Taxis may not get speed governors http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/taxis-may-not-get-speed-governors/articleshow/59781238.cms 8 Jun 2016 PM of Singapore on Singapore Airlines Pilots Strike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veGZqyzyygY