Goa Tourism Department introduces draft for Jetty Policy 2022; Uniform pricing for all jetties

To encourage fair trade practices, Goa Tourism Department has formulated a draft of the new Jetty Policy, 2022. The act proposes to balance the interests of tourists and jetty owners in Goa, by building an infrastructure which is cost efficient and promotes professional overall conduct.

Tourists will no longer be victims of exponential prices when travelling in a jetty through Goa.

The policy will monitor Goa’s 104 kilometer long coastline and 255 kilometers of inland waterways, which are used for various tourism purposes. Here are some objectives of the proposed policy.

• The first objective of the new policy is to regulate the operations of all jetties used for tourism purposes in Goa.

• It specifies the rules and procedures, which are to be

  complied by all stakeholders involved in jetty-related activities if

  they wish to install and operate government owned jetties.

• The policy will further bring about uniformity in ticket pricing and

  the taxation system by the implementation of a single window system for all jetty operators.

• It aims at creating fair business environment for all jetty operators.

• The licensing authority for jetties in Goa is vested with Captain of Ports

  (COP).

• The policy is applicable on all passenger cruise vessel operators.

  However, it will not apply to casinos, personal boats, ferries and other

  transport vessels that do not cater to tourism and leisure segments.

To ensure uniform ticketing system, Goa Electronic Limited (GEL) has developed a “single-window ticketing system”. The Vessel Operators need to mandatorily and exclusively sell their tickets, for any tourism centric activities solely through this computer software. The rate/tariff fixed by JMC will be binding on all the jetty operators.

For 1-hour Boat Cruises:

The current tariff for 1-hour boat cruises operating from Santa Monica Jetty is ₹500 per person, which is inclusive of GST. Any jetty operator offering similar boat cruises from any Goan waters will also offer their services at same rate.

For theme-based tours:

The duration of any themed based cruise will be minimum of 2 hours. The jetty operators will be free to determine the price of such theme-based tours, however, they would need to obtain a prior approval from JMC for such tariff.

Following the protocol, the tourism department has invited objections and suggestions from the general public on the proposed draft jetty policy. The Draft Jetty Policy, 2022 is also uploaded on the state tourism department's official website.