SINGAPORE — Third-party taxi booking apps,
which have become hugely popular among commuters and cabbies in
neighbouring countries including Malaysia, are making their way to
the Republic.
And at least one major taxi operator here is feeling uneasy
about it, and has instructed its drivers not to use an app that
could potentially allow cabbies to bypass their companies’ dispatch
system and pocket the full booking fee.
For now, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has no issues with
third-party booking apps — recognising the widespread use of
smartphones — but it made clear that taxi drivers using these apps
cannot collect fares which exceed what their companies have
set.
While it is too early to say whether such apps will take off
here — and even help alleviate the perennial taxi crunch by better
matching demand and supply — transport experts pointed out that
unlike other countries, where taxi licences can be issued to
individuals and not to corporations, taxi drivers here are beholden
to their companies.
Last month, Malaysia company MyTeksi launched a beta of the
Singapore version of its taxi booking app called GrabTaxi,
following the firm’s successful forays into Malaysia, Thailand and
the Philippines.
Mr Aaron Gill, GrabTaxi’s Regional Head of Product, said the
MyTeksi app in Malaysia — which charges a flat RM2 (S$0.80) booking fee for each trip that goes directly
to taxi drivers — receives one booking every five seconds. He
declined to reveal the number of drivers across the Causeway who
have signed up to use the app, which was launched about 17 months
ago.
Nevertheless, a report in June by United States technology news
website TechCrunch put the figure at about 2,500. MyTeksi’s success
has since led to rival apps entering the market in Malaysia.
Mr Gill said drivers can sign up for GrabTaxi as part of a free
trial, and consumers do not have to pay a booking fee, although
this may be introduced in the future. On the take-up so far, he
said there was “very limited data to share at this moment”.
TransCab General Manager Jasmine Tan said that as soon as the
company got wind of the app, it notified all its drivers not to use
it. She said TransCab — the second-largest cab operator here — was
concerned that passengers might complain to the LTA about booking fees set by its taxi drivers. The
operator could also be penalised by the LTA
under the Quality of Service (QoS) framework if its drivers are not
responsive to its dispatch system, she said. Ms Tan added that
TransCab will work with GrabTaxi if the app is integrated with its
dispatch system.
The LTA said it will continue to monitor
the situation and will make adjustments to its QoS framework where
necessary
Major taxi operators here charge a booking fee of S$3.30 during
peak periods and S$2.30 for the rest of the day. About 30 cents to
50 cents of each booking fee goes to the operators.
Out of seven taxi drivers TODAY spoke to,
two said they are using GrabTaxi, while the others have not heard
of it. One of the users, Mr Tan Chun Seng, 58, said he wanted to
expand his booking base. The other drivers said they were not keen
to use the app as they were not tech savvy.
Transport experts noted that, in time to come, third-party
booking apps could be hard to regulate. The LTA must exercise some control over the pricing,
“otherwise market forces will dictate” and lead to overcharging,
said National University of Singapore transport economist Anthony
Chin.
GrabTaxi said it is in discussions with taxi operators to work
out an arrangement that the latter will be happy with.
ComfortDelGro, which owns the largest fleet of taxis here, said it
will “definitely consider” working with third-party booking apps,
which will bring in more jobs for its drivers.
The beta launch of GrabTaxi came a month after the MoobiTaxi app
was made available for download. Unlike GrabTaxi, MoobiTaxi — which
became one of the top five apps on iTunes within a week of its
launch — integrates its booking system with those of taxi
operators’.
It is understood that another third-party booking app, Easy Taxi
— launched earlier this year in Malaysia — will also enter the
market here by the end of the month.
