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ComfortDelGro-Uber: Mixed feelings among cabbies for potential tie-up

SINGAPORE — Several ComfortDelGro cabbies said yesterday that they anticipated a rise in bookings should a partnership between their company and Uber materialise. However, whether their takings would similarly increase remained to be seen, they added, noting that fares booked through the ride-hailing app could be much lower than metered rates.

SINGAPORE — Several ComfortDelGro cabbies said yesterday that they anticipated a rise in bookings should a partnership between their company and Uber materialise. However, whether their takings would similarly increase remained to be seen, they added, noting that fares booked through the ride-hailing app could be much lower than metered rates.

In an announcement posted on the Singapore Exchange on Tuesday, the taxi operator, which has nearly 16,000 taxis under its Comfort and CityCab brands, said that it is in talks with ride-hailing giant Uber for a potential strategic alliance. The discussions include making ComfortDelGro’s fleet available on the Uber app.

Some Comfort taxi drivers interviewed expressed mixed feelings about the potential partnership.

One of those who welcomed a tie-up was Mr Nick Tan, 37, who said it would result in a “win-win situation” for both passengers and drivers.

“Passengers would be able to get more options … (and) use more (applications) to book their rides, and for drivers, we will have more choices on who to take (as passengers),” he added.

Another cabby, who wanted to be known only as Ms Cheng, said that some of her peers who are on Grab’s GrabTaxi booking app have seen more bookings made available to them.

An Uber-ComfortDelGro partnership will “open more opportunities for us”, said the woman with 10 years’ driving experience.

However, other taxi drivers noted that ride-hailing apps, such as Uber and its rival Grab, sometimes offer fares that are lower than metered taxi rates, and wondered if this might lead to lower takings, despite them ferrying more passengers.

Comfort taxi driver Andy Guan, 35, felt that since Singapore does not have a very large market, any new tie-up may not lead to “more jobs” for taxi drivers.

He added that while having lower fares to match Uber’s offerings is good for passengers, it is bad news for cabbies, as it will undercut their earnings.

A 40-year-old cabby, who wanted to be known only as Mr Osman, said that while it remains to be seen how the talks would play out, any ComfortDelGro-Uber collaboration would “only benefit customers”, since they would be the ones who would have more choices when using the Uber app to book a ride.

Some older drivers, such as Mr Albert Ee, 63, also expressed concern about their ability to handle bookings using mobile technology.

Mr Ee, who has been driving for about 20 years, said he is worried that he would find it “troublesome” to use the Uber app since he is not tech-savvy.

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