Johor-Singapore taxi services resume after licence extension

SINGAPORE — Taxi services between Johor and Singapore, which have been halted since midnight on Wednesday (July 1) because of lapsed permits for Malaysian cabbies to ply the cross-border routes, have resumed after the Land Transport Authority (LTA) extended their licenses until July 31.

The disruption arose because the LTA’s Malaysian counterparts did not receive the licence renewal documents despite these being sent last Monday.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, the LTA said it renewed the cross-border licences and sent them via registered mail to the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) on June 22, before the permits lapsed on Tuesday.

“We understand that the renewed licenses have not reached SPAD,” a spokesperson said, without elaborating on the reason. “To ensure that cross-border services are not disrupted, LTA has extended the existing licenses of the Malaysian taxi drivers by another month to July 31.”

It was the second extension granted by the LTA. The original expiry date was May 31. The permits have to be renewed every year.

Malaysian media reported that affected taxi drivers were unable to renew their road tax in Singapore because of the lapsed permits. According to Bernama, more than 1,000 commuters make use of the service daily.

The agency quoted the Johor Baru-Singapore Taxi Owners and Drivers Association chairman Muhamad Najib Abdul Rahman as saying that 200 taxi drivers were affected.

Today, he said about 40 to 50 per cent of the drivers had successfully obtained the extension.

Mr Muhamad Najib was quoted in reports that “SPAD confirmed that the permits were in the postal process” but the documents which were delivered to the Muar post office had not reached the authority.