Unregulated taxis cost the State Rs 500 crore revenue in five years: Mauvin
PORVORIM: The Goa government lost revenue to the tune of Rs 500 crore in the last five years as 18,000-odd taxi operators in the State were not brought under the ambit of taxes, claimed Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho.
Replying to a starred question tabled by Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar demanding that the government close a counter allotted to the GoaMiles App-based taxi aggregator at the Mopa airport, Godinho said, “Since GoaMiles commenced operations in 2018, as many as 1,560 taxis registered with them. They have paid Rs 6.96 crore in GST and Rs 1.5 crore as TDS to the government till date, after they came under the ambit of taxes,” he said, adding that GoaMiles was instrumental in making the unaccountable taxi business accountable.
The Minister said that 513 persons, mostly from Pernem taluka, were registered with the GoaMiles aggregator taxi service operating at the Mopa airport. He claimed that 90 percent of them were driver-cum-owners (DCO) while only 10 per cent of taxi owners had employed drivers.
He said that if there are 18,000 tourist taxis on the roads that are not paying GST and TDS, and are also not app-based, the State government is losing around Rs 90 to 100 crore every year. In the last five years, the government lost nearly Rs 500 crore, he said.
