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SMRT, Prime fined for failing service standards
Taxi audit covered safety, phone bookings, customer complaints
By Maria Almenoar
TAXI operators SMRT and Prime have been fined for falling short of service standards in an audit by the Land Transport Authority.
SMRT, which fared the worst among the seven taxi companies here, has to pay $69,792 for failing on 18 occasions between January and September.
Prime, identified by its copper-coloured fleet, was not up to the mark on seven occasions and was fined $3,686.
The audit, done monthly, covers three areas of service:
# Ease of getting a cab over the phone;
# Safety, as shown by accident rate; and
# Number of customer complaints.
Minimum service levels have been set for each of these areas. Operators who fall short of these standards are given fail grades; fines are imposed if they fail on any of these counts two months in a row.
But it does not mean that operators given pass grades are without delays in call bookings or customer complaints.
The remaining taxi operators - Smart, CityCab, Premier, TransCab and Comfort - fell down on service at least once each over the nine months, but escaped fines.
Comfort, the operator with the most taxis here - about 11,600 - emerged from the audit with a near-clean record: Except for a fail grade in safety in February, it earned pass grades.
The laggard, SMRT, mainly had problems matching taxis to call bookings from passengers between 8pm and 11pm over the nine months; it also failed to do so between 5pm and 8pm in January, February, April, August and September.
To perform acceptably in this area, the audit requires cab companies to meet at least 90 per cent of call bookings.
SMRT, the third-largest operator with about 2,600 cabs, most of them cream-coloured, also struggled with its safety record in May. Taxi operators cannot afford to chalk up more than 0.02 accidents for every 100,000km travelled.
In July, August and September, the number of complaints against its cabbies exceeded the ceiling rate of no more than 0.02 complaints for every 100,000km.
Asked what the company would do to meet the standards, an SMRT spokesman would only say it was increasing its fleet to meet the rising number of telephone bookings for taxis.
SMRT had already announced last month it would renew its ageing fleet and increase its number of vehicles. It has ordered 2,000 Chevrolet Tosca sedans, to be delivered by 2012.
Prime, the smallest operator with 629 taxis, had problems meeting customer satisfaction standards and minimising waiting time for those who call for a cab. Taxi operators are expected to answer calls in 30 seconds 85 per cent of the time.
Sales manager Jasmine Chen, 31, is not surprised Comfort did well.
She said: 'I call only Comfort when I need a cab because I know I'll get one. The other companies are hit-and-miss.'
[email protected]
Taxi audit covered safety, phone bookings, customer complaints
By Maria Almenoar
TAXI operators SMRT and Prime have been fined for falling short of service standards in an audit by the Land Transport Authority.
SMRT, which fared the worst among the seven taxi companies here, has to pay $69,792 for failing on 18 occasions between January and September.
Prime, identified by its copper-coloured fleet, was not up to the mark on seven occasions and was fined $3,686.
The audit, done monthly, covers three areas of service:
# Ease of getting a cab over the phone;
# Safety, as shown by accident rate; and
# Number of customer complaints.
Minimum service levels have been set for each of these areas. Operators who fall short of these standards are given fail grades; fines are imposed if they fail on any of these counts two months in a row.
But it does not mean that operators given pass grades are without delays in call bookings or customer complaints.
The remaining taxi operators - Smart, CityCab, Premier, TransCab and Comfort - fell down on service at least once each over the nine months, but escaped fines.
Comfort, the operator with the most taxis here - about 11,600 - emerged from the audit with a near-clean record: Except for a fail grade in safety in February, it earned pass grades.
The laggard, SMRT, mainly had problems matching taxis to call bookings from passengers between 8pm and 11pm over the nine months; it also failed to do so between 5pm and 8pm in January, February, April, August and September.
To perform acceptably in this area, the audit requires cab companies to meet at least 90 per cent of call bookings.
SMRT, the third-largest operator with about 2,600 cabs, most of them cream-coloured, also struggled with its safety record in May. Taxi operators cannot afford to chalk up more than 0.02 accidents for every 100,000km travelled.
In July, August and September, the number of complaints against its cabbies exceeded the ceiling rate of no more than 0.02 complaints for every 100,000km.
Asked what the company would do to meet the standards, an SMRT spokesman would only say it was increasing its fleet to meet the rising number of telephone bookings for taxis.
SMRT had already announced last month it would renew its ageing fleet and increase its number of vehicles. It has ordered 2,000 Chevrolet Tosca sedans, to be delivered by 2012.
Prime, the smallest operator with 629 taxis, had problems meeting customer satisfaction standards and minimising waiting time for those who call for a cab. Taxi operators are expected to answer calls in 30 seconds 85 per cent of the time.
Sales manager Jasmine Chen, 31, is not surprised Comfort did well.
She said: 'I call only Comfort when I need a cab because I know I'll get one. The other companies are hit-and-miss.'
[email protected]
