From iTODAY:Taxi fare not paid, passenger goes free
Letter from Ong Swee Huat | Jul 29, 2011 6:00 AM
LAST week, a passenger – who is a
foreigner – refused to pay the S$7.80 taxi fare.
I then drove her to a police post. As I was lodging a report,
she ransacked the glove apartment while in my taxi. This was
witnessed by an officer.
The police asked the passenger to pay but she refused
repeatedly. They asked for her passport or a valid document but she
said she did not have any on her and gave only a telephone
number.
She was allowed to go free despite all this.
I was told by the police to contact my taxi company for
assistance and that it was “a small matter and the police have
bigger roles”.
My company’s response later was: There is nothing it could do
(although it is willing to compensate the amount).
I asked the police, for instance, about the lack of checks on
whether my passenger had valid documents to stay in Singapore and
what protection there is for cabbies who face such incidents.
The police replied that the offence of not paying taxi fare
comes under the Land Transport Authority for enforcement and that
such an offence “does not allow police officers to arrest without a
warrant”, which was why the officers “had no legal grounds to
detain the passenger”.
The reply also stated: The officers had followed procedures “by
ensuring there was no breach of peace and that the particulars of
both parties involved were obtained”.
I am shocked and indignant to see such injustice – the
irresponsible act of letting a non-fare paying passenger go without
punishment and the callous remarks made at the police post.
The issue is this: How will this help eradicate a frustrating
situation that innocent and hardworking taxi drivers face in
Singapore?
