The All Khasi Meghalaya Tourist Taxi Association (AKMTTA) today appealed to the State government to ban vehicles from outside the State from ferrying passengers to tourist spots in Meghalaya.
Stating that tourist taxis from outside Meghalaya can bring tourists and other passengers to the State, but the right to ferry them to different tourist spots should belong to the local tourist taxis.
“The destination of vehicles from outside the state ends in Shillong and then they return to where they came from,” the association said in its letter to Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh.
The association further mentioned that on any given day, there are at least 3,500 vehicles that bring tourists into the State, out of which over 2,400 are from outside.
It further stated that local tourist taxis are losing out every day due to the unregulated entry of tourist vehicles from outside the State.
Another major issue that the association highlighted is that whenever their vehicles take or pick up passengers to go to the airport they get fined by traffic police for carrying excess passengers whereas other vehicles from outside the State coming to Meghalaya are not taken to task. The association said that this act by the police is unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Lyngdoh assured the association members that he will soon look into the matter with seriousness. He also sought two weeks’ time to find out a workable solution on the issues raised.
Meanwhile, the association said that it would convene a meeting of all its members to discuss the issue of roadside touts who pick up passengers and put them in vehicles resulting in problems to local tourist taxi drivers.
