Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (CDS)

Panaji, Jun 20: The state government plans on offering loans to unemployed youth to purchase vehicles, in an attempt to defy the opposition toward GoaMiles by the local taxi operators.

The loans which will be offered through economic development corporation come with a specific condition: the loan recipients must register their vehicle with GoaMiles, which is the government’s app-based service.

Dayanand Sopte, Goa Tourism Development Corporation chairman, stated that these loan recipients would receive an additional subsidy towards their vehicle insurance as well as receive scholarships for their children.

Recently, GoaMiles has been facing growing opposition to which Sopte responded, “The Goa government has taken a firm decision to stand by the GoaMiles initiative in the interest of tourism in the state. The government will neither buckle down to any sort of pressure from vested interests nor to their demands to stop or scrap the app-based taxi service.”

Sopte also encouraged local cab drivers to join the service and experience its functioning as opposed to protesting against the app.

The GTDC chairman listed the achievements of the app-based service, which is completing a year. He said, “On commissioning the service in August 2018, the fleet has steadily risen from 55 vehicles to 1,400 cabs. Similarly, on an average, a taxi driver registered with GoaMiles earns around Rs 3,500 per day without having to lose on commission, which other app-based taxi services operating nationally charge.”

The GTDC chairman further denies terming GoaMiles as an 'outsider', and claims, "Even other app-based taxi services may not have as much local genes as much as GoaMiles has.”