Taxi driver threatens GoaMiles passengers to cancel Rs 300-ride, take local cab for Rs 1,000 instead

As the video went viral, more tourists shared similar experiences with the taxi mafia in Goa. (Representational image)

A taxi driver reportedly stopped a GoaMiles car carrying passengers, demanding they opt for a local cab instead. The incident, caught on camera, is doing rounds on social media showing the passengers asking why they would give up their Rs 300 ride with the state-run app-based cab service and take a local taxi when they charge more than three times the normal fare.

"Who are you to force us to cancel this ride?" one of the passengers can be heard saying in the video. "You are charging Rs 1,000 for a Rs 300 ride, how are we wrong? Why will we cancel our ride and take a local taxi?"

As the video went viral, more tourists shared similar experiences with the taxi mafia in Goa.

"Happened to us too. The GoaMiles driver accelerated to escape the local taxi goons. It felt like we were in a proper race," commented an X user.

Happened to us too.The Goa Miles driver accelerated to escape the local taxi goons. It felt like we are in a proper race

If the problem is so prevelant & out in open why is @goacm @Goa_Cops @TourismGoa not taking any action ? It’s pathetic experience for tourists https://t.co/uWX8dnj1OF

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— ……………. (@AjeebDastan7) April 6, 2024

In a related incident, in 2018, a GoaMiles driver was allegedly harassed and assaulted by the taxi mafia outside a starred hotel at Arpora. The Anjuna police have registered an FIR against “10-15 persons who are taxi operators or drivers”. It was the first case filed by a driver associated with GoaMiles against other taxi drivers, the Times of India reported.

The driver complained that after he picked up a passenger, who had booked a ride via the app, he was “restrained from proceeding by around 10 to 15 people who are taxi operators/drivers”. He added that the group “abused him in filthy language” and threatened him with “dire consequences”.

The state government had launched the GoaMiles app in August 2018. Since then, those registered with the app have faced the brunt of the taxi mafia.