• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

Serious Sinkies' Get F@@KED Even Deeper

Pinkieslut

Alfrescian
Loyal
Cab firms hit by higher operating licence fees

The embattled taxi industry, which has been reeling from disruptors such as Uber and Grab, has taken another blow - sharply higher government fees.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has told operators that their operating licence fee will rise from 0.1 per cent of gross revenue to 0.2 per cent this year, and then to 0.3 per cent next year.

This is the first such increase in more than 10 years. For a mid-sized operator such as SMRT, the fee hike translates to more than $100,000 in additional costs per year.

Based on its taxi revenue for the past two financial years, its fee would go up from an estimated $140,000 to $420,000 next year, assuming revenue remains constant.

Operators contacted were furious but resigned. "What can we do?" the manager of a small firm said. "It's not as if the rate is negotiable."

Another said: "That's a doubling and trebling of fees in just two years. We're going to appeal. It may be useless but we have to register our protest."

The LTA was not available for comment but The Straits Times understands that the fee hike has to do with higher costs associated with monitoring taxi service standards.

Currently, private-hire operators such as Uber and Grab do not pay this fee. Their service standards are also not monitored by the LTA.

National Taxi Association executive adviser Ang Hin Kee said operators may pass the cost on to drivers by raising rental fees. "Higher cost may trickle downwards," he said.

For cabby S.C. Wong, it is already starting to trickle down. Mr Wong, 64, said ComfortDelGro has been trying to persuade him to swop his Hyundai Sonata for a costlier Hyundai i40 cab.

"I refused because it costs 30 per cent more. The market is very bad now," he said. "My takings have fallen by 20 per cent to 30 per cent from last year, when Uber and Grab started full swing. My call bookings have dropped too."

Mr Wong, who has been driving a taxi for 15 years, said the i40's higher flag-down fare of $3.70 - 50 cents higher than the Sonata's $3.20 - "cannot cover the $30 increase in rental".

"If I get 20 passengers a day, that's only $10 more," he said.

Asked what he will do when his Sonata is deregistered in March, he sighed. "I don't know. Maybe by then, I would have stopped driving."

ComfortDelGro said the higher rental reflects the higher purchase price of the i40.

A spokesman said the i40 - which is slightly smaller than the Sonata - costs more because it complies with Euro 5 emission standards.

The i40's rental is $130 a day, while the Sonata's is as low as $100. The $30 hike means ComfortDelGro rakes in nearly $88,000 more in rental per cab over its eight-year lifespan. The group has about 17,000 taxis.

But even as it is piling higher rentals on drivers, Singapore's biggest cab operator is trying to woo cabbies who have quit with a two-month 50 per cent rental discount.

"The scheme is a promotion to attract drivers who have left and wish to rejoin the company," the spokesman said. "This is part of our ongoing efforts to recruit drivers."

Industry players said the percentage of unhired cabs has risen - from single digits before 2013 to more than 10 per cent now for some operators.

For commuters, the days of $3.20 flag-downs are numbered. Sonata taxis will all be replaced by i40s in the next couple of years.
 

johnny333

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Another example of why things are so expensive in Spore & why it will remain so until a certain party gets kicked out.
 

shittypore

Alfrescian
Loyal
Another example of why things are so expensive in Spore & why it will remain so until a certain party gets kicked out.

Need to pay Cronies their Million, its not going to cum out frm the Familee's fund so Drivers and Commuters the Suckers.
 

winnipegjets

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has told operators that their operating licence fee will rise from 0.1 per cent of gross revenue to 0.2 per cent this year, and then to 0.3 per cent next year.

This is a cash grab ...licence fee tied to revenue!
 

scroobal

Alfrescian
Loyal
I do feel sorry for Singapore Taxi Drivers. Its the only trade that is restricted to citizens. 4 years, the National Taxi Association was formed by the PAP who got 6 PAP MPs to form the council for NTA. They forced taxi drivers from associations that came from 6 taxi companies to join NTA. All the taxi drivers are now affiliated to NTUC. The Council for NTA is led Chan Chun Sing, the incorrigible liar.

Since the formation of NTA, the drivers have been receiving bad news. Uber and Grab entered the business and these are not even in NTA. We now have Uni students picking up passengers in their spare time as well hundreds of salaried employees during the evening shift and weekends used Uber or Grab.

Now the hike in fees.
 

mojito

Alfrescian
Loyal
I am sure in light of competition amongst taxi companies, they will abosrb the increase rather than pass on to their drivers. :smile:
 

ckmpd

Alfrescian
Loyal
I do feel sorry for Singapore Taxi Drivers. Its the only trade that is restricted to citizens. 4 years, the National Taxi Association was formed by the PAP who got 6 PAP MPs to form the council for NTA. They forced taxi drivers from associations that came from 6 taxi companies to join NTA. All the taxi drivers are now affiliated to NTUC. The Council for NTA is led Chan Chun Sing, the incorrigible liar.

Since the formation of NTA, the drivers have been receiving bad news. Uber and Grab entered the business and these are not even in NTA. We now have Uni students picking up passengers in their spare time as well hundreds of salaried employees during the evening shift and weekends used Uber or Grab.

Now the hike in fees.

Singapore taxi drivers have been severely abused by the pap and the taxi companies.

I believe a few years ago, the pap was considering bringing in PRCs to drive SG taxis. Can anyone here confirm what I heard?
 

zhihau

Super Moderator
SuperMod
Asset
I believe a few years ago, the pap was considering bringing in PRCs to drive SG taxis. Can anyone here confirm what I heard?

You mean you haven't sat in a cab driven by Ah Tiong? You damn lucky sial!
 

ckmpd

Alfrescian
Loyal
You haven't heard about Prof Cai Ming Jie? Taxi Driver holding PhD ok? Don't play play.

I think he is a Singaporean although PRC at birth. I think the privilege to be a taxi driver is that he must be a Singaporean
 

zhihau

Super Moderator
SuperMod
Asset
I think he is a Singaporean although PRC at birth. I think the privilege to be a taxi driver is that he must be a Singaporean

Thank you for your confirmation, how many PRC-born Singaporeans do we have now? I sat in a cab driven by Tiong before, and I guided him through that journey to my destination.
 

batman1

Alfrescian
Loyal
Sinkees have not been farked deep deep enough by the MIW.
They will wake up or cry only when they see their coffin.
 

ckmpd

Alfrescian
Loyal
Thank you for your confirmation, how many PRC-born Singaporeans do we have now? I sat in a cab driven by Tiong before, and I guided him through that journey to my destination.

i am sure that are some PRC born Singaporeans who are taxi drivers just like there are some PRC born Singaporeans who are hawker assistants.

That's why dont believe the pap too much. When they reported a crime committed by a Singaporean, he can be a newly minted Singaporean who was borned in China or India. The pap is very gleeful and quick to state that a person charged for a crime when he is a singaporean
 

JohnTan

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
I have petitioned the government to shut down possible rivals to ComfortDelgro. That way, cabbies and passengers have to accept the likely taxi rental hikes instead of choosing Uber or Grab.
 

ckmpd

Alfrescian
Loyal
Sinkies already have the privilege of doing NS.

Yes, the privilege of doing NS is reserved for Singapore guys. Another privilege reserved for Singaporeans is taxi drivers. With such wonderful privileges, no wonder 69.9% voted for pap.

When will Singaporeans wake up to the sorry state they are in?
 

Cufflinks

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
I have petitioned the government to shut down possible rivals to ComfortDelgro. That way, cabbies and passengers have to accept the likely taxi rental hikes instead of choosing Uber or Grab.

Tower Transit just started, you want them to shut down?
 
Top