People in this state who rent private vehicles will no longer be exempt; their licenses will be cancelled

The Goa government took a big decision and said that strict action will be taken against those who are earning money from tourists by renting out private cars or bikes. The government is going to bring a new ordinance under which the license of rent-car or rent-bike operators who do commercial work with private vehicles without a valid license will be cancelled. This strictness will also apply to those persons who rent out private vehicles despite not having their own license.

Over 600 challans have been issued by last year's Goa Police traffic cell to individuals who were operating taxi-like operations with personal vehicles. Once the challan is handed out, the owner of the vehicle is required to visit the court and offer payment of the penalty. In spite of that, numerous individuals are still operating this business.

Taking the matter seriously, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant called a high-level meeting at the Police Headquarters, Panaji. IGP, DIG, Transport Director, North Goa, and Traffic SP, as well as the Chief Engineer of PWD, were present at this meeting. In this, the status of checkposts, surveillance, and the traffic system on the state borders was reviewed.

It came to light in the meeting that the government is suffering a huge revenue loss due to the commercial use of private vehicles. Also, the GST related to them is not being received. The Transport Department said that in 2018, some exemption was given to rental car-bike companies by changing the law, due to which many people took advantage of it.

CM Sawant said that till now, only 10 percent of such cases have been identified where private vehicles were being used commercially. He directed that strict action should be taken on this, and necessary changes should be made to stop tax evasion.

In the meeting, the Chief Minister also informed that the green initiative named 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' will now be implemented in every police station. Along with this, the government is working rapidly towards creating a transparent, citizen-friendly, and smart traffic and surveillance system on the borders in Goa.

The Chief Minister inspected the Patradevi and Keri (North Goa) and Mollem and Polem (South Goa) border check points. The availability of space for petrol pumps and public toilets was also checked by him. Aside from this, work on preparing the traffic department's app and system was also discussed.

The government is now intending to automate the surveillance on borders and integrate it with the VAHAN portal of the central government, thereby making information on traffic and vehicles available in real time.

State Revenue Minister Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrat said that these rental car and bike operators are responsible for increasing accidents in the state and harming the taxi business.