Panaji, Jan 5 (IANS): Goa may be finally coming to grips with the Covid-19 pandemic, but the coastal state's taxi woes continue to be a bane to the state's public transport apparatus, especially when it comes to tourists.

Physical skirmishes between owners of licenced tourist taxis and drivers of taxis operated by GoaMiles, a private app company authorised by the state Tourism Ministry to operate aggregator taxi services in Goa, appears to have taken the sheen out of the Goa's tourism revival story.

The latest tussle involves picking up of passengers, both at the Dabolim International Airport, which is now the home turf of GoaMiles cabbies and in the many beach villages, where GoaMiles taxi drivers are being hounded out by locally licenced taxi owners.

The last three weeks have witnessed several instances of intimidation of drivers from both groups. Videos of several such instances have gone viral on social media.

"We have the necessary licences. This is the official taxi app service operating in Goa. We are providing taxi services to tourists and locals at lower rates. And yet we are being intimidated whenever our drivers respond to calls in certain areas," says Parashar Pai Khot, director (Operation) at GoaMiles.

Last month, around two dozen persons, including several tourist taxi owners were booked at the Anjuna police station for assaulting a GoaMiles taxi driver, who had responded to an online booking made by a customer located in the area.

Similar incidents have also occurred in popular beach villages like Calangute, Baga, where GoaMiles taxi drivers have been intimidated or roughed up.

Tourist taxi owners claim that they have also been intimidated by GoaMiles drivers, when they went to drop passengers at the airport.

"They also employ such tactics at the Goa Airport where our drivers are intimidated," Chetan Kamat, spokesperson for the All Goa Tourist Taxi Union said.

Goa's 10,000 odd tourist taxis have been a law unto themselves for decades and have often been accused of overcharging, intimidating passengers and operating in an unregulated environment.

Several attempts by the state government to install and implement a fare-meter system have failed, even as members of the tourist taxi lobby have also attacked tour coach buses ferrying foreign tourists, accusing tour operators of depriving them of business.

Ola taxi services were introduced in Goa in 2014, but were soon stopped by the state transport department following protests by local taxi operators.

Following complaints by tourists and tourism industry stakeholders about overcharging by taxi operators, the government-operated Goa Tourism Development Corporation partnered with a private agency to set up GoaMiles a couple of years back.

The conflict between GoaMiles drivers and tourist taxi operators had flared up last year, with a flurry of First Information Reports being filed, following assaults and a series of intimidatory acts by the latter.

The new sparks to the same tussle have now forced Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar to weigh in on the matter.

"GoaMiles is necessary. We are not against tourist taxis. Tourists should not be cheated. Some taxi persons have cheated tourists, it is creating bad publicity elsewhere," Ajgaonkar said, backing the aggregator service.