Dec 5, 2007
By Christopher Tan
IT IS official. Taxi fares are going up.
Taxi giant ComfortDelGro Corp has notified the Public Transport Council (PTC) about an imminent fare increase. The PTC could not say more.
Commuters can expect to pay more from as early as the week before Christmas, as taxi operators have to inform the council at least two weeks before any fare changes.
For its part, ComfortDelGro again declined to comment, as it has for several weeks since speculation about a hike first started.
Sources, however, said the adjustment will include a 30-cent rise in flag-down rate. This would bring the minimum starting fare to $2.80. For newer cabs which meet the stringent Euro IV emission standard, the flag-down will go from $2.70 to $3.
Currently, ComfortDelGro has about 2,000 of such cabs in its fleet.
Commuters can expect changes to the distance and time-based charges too. Surcharges are also expected to be streamlined.
There is speculation that the operator might help cabbies defray electronic road- pricing charges to encourage them to enter the Central Business District - where demand for cabs is high.
The signs of a fare hike had been there for some time as cabbies and their associations have been lobbying for it for several months now, arguing the increase in diesel price and the goods and services tax have eroded drivers' income substantially.
The plight of cabbies is not lost on commuters. Said merchandiser Ivy Ong, 41, who takes cabs regularly: 'Will this fare adjustment be helping the taxi-drivers? If their taxi rental goes up, I don't think it would.'
Citigroup Singapore strategist Lim Jit Soon does not think ComfortDelGro would raise rental this time round as it wants to retain as many drivers as possible 'in this buoyant market'.
'What it means is that it might gradually remove some subsidies,' he said.
For instance, ComfortDelGro is still selling diesel to cabbies at 94 cents a litre, 36 cents cheaper than diesel dispensed at stations run by oil companies.
christan@sph.coms.g
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings.
No comments:
Post a Comment