Rewarding Taxi Drivers for Meeting New Taxi Availability Standards

Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Transport if he will consider creating a scheme to (i) reward taxi drivers who meet LTA's new Taxi Availability (TA) standards; and (ii) ensure that any financial penalty imposed on the taxi operators who fail to meet the TA standards will not be transferred to the taxi drivers.

Taxi Availability (TA) standards were developed in close consultation with stakeholders to ensure that they are realistic and achievable, and would, over time, result in discernible improvements for taxi commuters. LTA can play a role to facilitate the meeting of these standards, for example, in helping match taxi hirers and relief drivers. However, as the standards are imposed on taxi operators, we should leave it to the operators to decide if incentives for their drivers are needed.

To allow taxi operators to adjust to the TA framework, there will be no financial penalties imposed for failure to meet the TA standards during the initial six months of implementation. LTA will review this after the six-month period. We understand Mr Ang's concern, and should we decide to impose penalties, I would urge operators to consider very carefully simply passing the buck to their drivers. In this regard, I was happy to note Comfort Delgro earlier assuring that it would work hand in hand with its drivers to meet the standards, and provide them with all the support needed, and would not just push the responsibility to them. Taxi operators should be conscious that if they impose unreasonable or uncompetitive demands or terms on their hirers, they may find their drivers approaching the various other taxi companies in Singapore to hire their taxis.