VASCO: Against the backdrop of an unlicenced taxi driver arrested for providing drugs to a tourist, the United Taximen Union (UTU), an association of yellow and black taxi operators at the Dabolim airport on Monday demanded immediate action against all illegal taxi and rent-a-car operators at the airport.
UTU president Vidhyanand Divkar alleged, “Some tout taxi operators were soliciting customers at the Dabolim airport illegally and in an unprofessional manner and bringing bad name to the entire taxi operators.”
He added that these illegal taxi operators were also involved in nefarious activities.
He requested Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to intervene in the matter and provide additional staff at the Dabolim airport to curb the ongoing illegalities failing which the Union will not hesitate to take the law into their hands and stop illegal taxi operators.
UTU member Anand Pednekar said, “Tout taxi operators were misguiding passengers and take them out of the airport to a taxi operator, who he alleged overcharge them thus spoiling the name of the yellow and black taxi operators, who have been operating in a professional manner. “It also spoils the name of the touristic State and genuine taxi operators are unnecessarily termed as mafia,” he added.
Pednekar further said, “Last week an illegal taxi driver was arrested by the police on the charge of providing drugs to a passenger, who was hospitalised due to drug overdose, and in the past, another driver was arrested on molestation charges.”
Demanding the deployment of additional police at the airport to keep touts and illegal taxi operators at bay, he said “Union members will now catch these touts and hand them over to the police.”
UTU member Prasad Prabhugaonkar took strong exception to the rent-a-car operators functioning illegally from the Dabolim airport and demanded that they should do their business from its office.
“The yellow and black taxi operators have a legal counter at the airport. Illegal taxis pose a danger to passengers as nobody is aware of the drivers’ credentials,” he said.