Panaji: Giving a big bush to introducing blue cabs at Manohar international airport, the transport department has invited ‘permit in respect of a contract carriage’ (P.CoP A) applications from taxi operators in Pernem taluka who had previously submitted their forms.

The applications will be accepted from June 9 to June 15. The taximen are required to fill in forms/applications prescribed under the Goa Motor Vehicle Rules 1991.

The applications must be submitted to the office of the assistant director of transport, Pernem.

A notice was issued by the regional transport authority (RTA) Pernem following an amendment to the motor vehicle rules specifically for the proposed blue cab prepaid taxi service.

The latest move has been aimed at ensuring a fair selection of eligible taxi operators for the blue cab service.

At a meeting of the Entertainment Society of Goa, it was demanded that 2,000 or 3,000 taxi permits be issued. The demand came forth without any solid reason for such a huge requirement. Consequently, on January 5 a public notice was published inviting applications on a plain form to assess the actual requirements and gather details of interested cabbies.

Under the prescribed process, applicants who had previously submitted duly filled forms in response to the public notice will be considered.

Priority will be given to applicants who were in possession of a motor vehicle at the time of submitting their applications.

The RTA Pernem will now process the applications received within the stipulated period.

This process aligns with the existing practice followed for other yellow-black taxi counters, which involves a thorough scrutiny of applications.

For instance, if multiple applications are submitted by members of the same family, each application will be individually checked to ensure fairness.

By February 15, 2023, the government had received approximately 1,500 applications for blue cabs. The high number of applications reflected the significant interest among taxi operators in Pernem to be part of the blue cab service at the Mopa airport.