Ensuring Even Standards between Taxi and Private Drivers

Mr Seng Han Thong asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether third-party taxi booking service providers will be required to engage only private car drivers or taxi drivers who are screened, trained and tested under the same vocational licence regime administered by LTA; (b) how will the Ministry harmonise taxi call booking QoS standards imposed on the taxi companies when their taxi drivers are also taking third-party taxi bookings; and (c) apart from the statutory costs, whether the Ministry will apply the governing terms and conditions of registering and deregistering taxis to private hire vehicles.

Mdm Speaker, the Third-Party Taxi Booking Service Providers Act, passed earlier this May, requires service providers to dispatch only licensed taxis and taxi drivers in response to a taxi booking. The Act also allows the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to collect trip data from these providers, which LTA will take into account when assessing the taxi companies’ call booking Quality of Service performance.

There are no plans to apply the same regulations and concessions for taxis to private hire vehicles. LTA is, however, studying measures to enhance commuter safety when taking such services.