Level playing field with private-hire car drivers ‘might hurt cabbies’

SINGAPORE — If the taxi industry wants private-hire operators such as Uber and Grab to compete on a completely level playing field, then they might have to contend with private-hire drivers being allowed to pick up passengers who hail them from the streets.

Senior Minister of State (Transport) Ng Chee Meng said this in Parliament yesterday while explaining the differences in regulations for taxi drivers and private-hire car drivers, in response to calls to better protect taxi drivers — a matter raised by Members of Parliament Lee Bee Wah and Ang Hin Kee, who is also the executive advisor to the National Taxi Association.

Dr Lee said that residents in her Nee Soon constituency who are taxi drivers were hoping to see a “more level playing field” given that they are subject to more regulations, such as having to clock in a minimum number of hours on the road.

However, Mr Ng cautioned that doing this may affect the “welfare” of taxi drivers, who see 80 per cent of their rides coming from street-hails.

“If you completely level the playing field, private-hire cars will have street-hail privileges as well,” Mr Ng said.

As for the regulations, he pointed out that taxi drivers undergo longer training to get their licences and their vehicles require more frequent inspections, and they are allowed to pick up street-hails. The training is also for them to know the various regulations concerning fare collection, among other things.

The new taxi driving licence course, which was rolled out in May, takes about 25 hours, while that for the Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence, to begin next year, will be about 10 hours.

Taxis have to undergo more frequent inspections because they clock greater distances, he said. Data from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) shows that, on average, taxis run about 145,000km yearly, about five times that of private-hire cars. LTA will review the data regularly to see if there is a need to adjust the frequency of inspections for private-hire cars, Mr Ng said.

In response to Dr Lee’s request to set a minimum age for private-hire car drivers for safety reasons, Mr Ng said that the driver’s experience mattered more than age, so private-hire car drivers must have held a driving licence for at least two years.

The minimum age of 30 for taxi drivers was set “for a different set of reasons”, he added, but the ministry was open to reviewing this “if the taxi industry is requesting a level playing field in terms of minimum-age requirements”.