After Rs 10000 fine, Goa vows to be on fast track
the goan I network
PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa on Wednesday imposed costs of Rs 10,000 on the Government of Goa for delaying the implementation of the digital meters for taxis in Goa and asked the government to speed up the process which began in 2016.
Hearing a petition filed by the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, the court decreed that the monies could be taken from the officer concerned who, they said could have avoided the delay.
When the matter came up for hearing the Government of Goa told the court that the Bureau of Indian Standards has now fixed the standards for Automotive Tracking Device and given the new specifications and the State would scrap the entire earlier process.
However, the court took an unkind view of this.
“This petition has been pending in this Court since the year 2016. We have passed various orders, starting from November 2017. Initially, the State had not taken a decision in respect of fitting of GPS Digital Meters on the motor-cabs in the State. It is only after we had made a specific query and pointed out the relevant provisions of the law that a statement came to be made that rules would be brought into effect,” the High Court observed.
The court was informed that the standards were fixed on 26 July 2018 and were on the website of the Bureau of Indian Standards.
“Therefore, the explanation given in the Affidavit filed today that only when the meeting was held on 20 August 2018 with the ICAT and the Goa Electronics Limited, that the Authorities came to know It is not possible to believe that the Authorities would not check whether the standards have been finalized. Either there is deliberate delay or lapse on the part of the Authorities. Had the officer been vigilant, the process could have been initiated on 26 July 2018, and the time of almost two months which is lost could have been saved and so also judicial time,” the court observed.
“We, therefore, impose costs of Rs10,000 on the State Government for this needless delay. It is open to the State to recover the costs so imposed from the concerned officer,” the High Court ruled.
The government then told the court that a fresh e-tender will be floated on 21 September 2018 by Goa Electronics Limited and that the entire process will be completed by December 24, while the the installation of digital meters with GPS will commence by 25 December 2018.
