Goa tourist taxi strike to be indefinite: Union leader

The one-day taxi strike in Goa on Friday was extended for an indefinite period after the state government refused to cede to the demand of scrapping 'Goa Miles', an app-based cab service, a union leader said.

Several hundred tourist taxis, including yellow and black cabs operating at Goa's airport, had stayed off roads since morning over the demand.

Goa Miles is backed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said in the morning that his government would help taxi operators start their own app-based service but there was no question of scrapping Goa Miles.

"Our vehicles will remain off the roads till the government listens to our demand. Our demand to scrap Goa Miles is genuine and even shack owners are supporting us," taxi union leader Vinayak Nanoskar told reporters here on Friday evening.

He had earlier called the protest "symbolic" and had claimed more than 25,000 tourist taxis stayed off the roads through the day.

A large number of tourists were stranded at hotels as taxi operators refused to ferry them to the Dabolim airport, around 40 kilometres from Panaji, and various railway stations.

State-run Kadamba Transport Corporation buses were deployed at the airport and railway stations to tide over the taxi stir.

According to taxi unions, Goa Miles is adversely affecting their business, with Nanoskar claiming that most of its employees were from outside the state.