The Minister for Transport announced in Parliament that the Government will regulate the standard of service for taxi drivers but will not regulate the fares. The Minister believes that deregulation of fares allows greater flexibility in the supply of taxis. The public finds the deregulated fares and surcharges to be confusing.
I wish to suggest an approach:
I wish to suggest an approach:
- The Government should regulate the fares for a basic taxi service that picks up passengers on the road or at taxi stands
- Taxi companies can operate special services for customers that book a taxi at their call centre; they can set their own fares
Some taxi companies may prefer to operate the basic service, as they do not have to incur the high cost of maintaining a taxi booking service. Commuters will also benefit as the fares for the basic taxi service can be used as a benchmark to decide on the taxi company to choose for call a taxi.
I hope that the Land Transport Authority will consider this approach.
I hope that the Land Transport Authority will consider this approach.
2 comments:
All Taxi companies want to operate a call center because it means additional income for them.
Regulating normal pick up and not call booking can mean disaster to passenger. If the pick up fee is too low, the taxi drivers will just hide 1 corner and wait for booking.
In my opinion, both charges need to be regulated.
I agree that fare for taxi basic services should be regulated. With so complicated fare system I really worry and hate to take a taxi. Will continue to avoid taxis as much as possible, too bad that this only hurts the taxis drivers.
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