CALANGUTE: With no announcement on the taxi fares from Calangute-Candolim to Mopa airport, taxi owners from the coastal belt said the government did not consult them on the same and are likely to keep the same pre-paid rate charged at Dabolim.
They said they will charge the same fare as that of passengers from Dabolim airport which is Rs 1,500 during daytime and Rs 2,000 during the night.
With flights starting on Thursday, taxi owners in Calangute-Candolim said there is no clarity on the fares to Mopa airport and other issues. Executive committee members of North Goa taxi unions said the government should have called them to discuss the issue.
“The government has not called us to discuss the rates. Nothing is decided. We're waiting for the government to call us. Only after discussion we can decide on the fares,” they said.
Union leader Bappa Korgaonkar, however, said they are likely to charge around the same rate as the rate to Dabolim. “We’re in the centre, so the distance from both airports is the same, so we will charge the same, give-or-take Rs 200,” he said.
But he said they will not join the new Goa Taxi app introduced by the government.
“Taxi owners in Pernem have already said they are opposed to the government arrangement, so we will have to wait and see what happens and what the taxi owners from there decide,” union members said referring to the government decision that only taxi owners who join the new government-initiated Goa Taxi app can carry passengers to Mopa.