Premier Taxi
scraps fuel surcharge
SINGAPORE: Taxi fares have come down for passengers who travel
in the more than 2,000 Premier Taxi cabs that ply the roads
here.
The taxi company has abandoned its 50—cent fuel surcharge, six
months after it was introduced to counter the effects of rising
fuel costs.
The company said that in March, it was afraid it would lose some
of its good drivers or have to compromise on service standards
because they could not keep up with the costs.
But speaking to TODAY on Thursday, Premier managing director Lim
Chong Boo said the fuel surcharge — which is in addition to the
flag—down rate — was cancelled last week because oil prices have
since stabilised.
"It doesn’t look like it’s going up. We calculated and it’s
quite stable," said Mr Lim.
When the surcharge was introduced, a litre of diesel cost about
S$1.60 a litre at petrol stations, but Mr Lim said the price has
since fallen to about S$1.55 per litre.
He added: "The fuel surcharge was not meant for profiteering. It
was meant for taxi drivers to cover their costs. Since the prices
have stabilised, taxi drivers should not profiteer and we need to
be fair to the commuters."
Other companies including ComfortDelGro — the largest taxi
operator here — did not follow suit when Premier introduced the
surcharge this year.
But taxi companies had applied a fuel surcharge of 30 cents in
July 2008 — for the first time — when oil prices hit a record
high.
That surcharge was lifted in November of that year. —
TODAY
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