> The big taxi surcharge muddle

NEXT time you board a taxi in town, be extra-vigilant of the surcharges you have to pay.

A confusion over what constitutes the ‘City’ area means that some people could end up paying $3 more than they should.

Technically, it sounds simple enough: If a passenger boards a taxi in the City area between 5pm and midnight from Mondays to Saturdays, then he is subject to a $3 surcharge.

But what exactly are the demarcations of ‘City’? Therein lies the confusion for some passengers and taxi drivers.

The inconsistent implementation of the surcharge has riled passengers who say they are being ripped off by errant cabbies.

Mr Fattah Salim, 19, a polytechnic student, was almost made to pay the surcharge for a cab ride last Saturday at 9pm.

Despite the fact that he had boarded at Kembangan – in the eastern part of Singapore and well outside the the Central Business District (CBD) – the driver implemented the surcharge.

When he queried the driver, the latter insisted Kembangan was part of the city area where the surcharge was applicable.

The driver reluctantly waived the surcharge only after Mr Fattah protested.

The three taxi companies- namely, ComfortDelGro, SMRT and Premier Taxis – said the City area surcharge was applicable if the point of hire is within demarcated CBD zones.

ComfortDelGro added that the surcharge also applies if the point of hire for its cabs is in the Orchard Road stretch.

All three companies also said their drivers are briefed on the areas covered by the surcharge.

Despite this, some taxi drivers mypaper spoke to said they only have a sketchy grasp of it.

my paper spoke to several passengers who suggested that a proper map displayed in the taxis for everyone to see so as to eliminate confusion. According to them, some cabbies have been arbitrarily imposing the surcharges even if the point of hire is outside the city area.

According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) website (www.lta.gov.sg), the demarcated areas considered as the CBD include Tanjong Pagar, Republic Boulevard and Havelock Road.

Unlike ComfortDelGro, Premier Taxis and SMRT do not include the Orchard Road stretch as part of the City area.

Both passengers and taxi drivers agree that having one uniform map for display will go some distance to solve the problem.

When contacted, an LTA spokesperson said that the surcharge is independently imposed by the taxi companies themselves. — my paper

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_252210.html

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Oh so now such things areindependently imposed by the taxi companies themselves again?

Wasn’t that long ago when LTA stepped in to show their knuckles when some taxi drivers decided to waive off the 30% peak hour surcharge.

Make up your mind.

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