Singapore will next year introduce new regulations to manage the
numerous taxi-booking app services that are available in the country.
The country’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) today outlined a
framework to “safeguard commuter safety and interests” in response to
the rapid rise of apps like Uber, Hailo, GrabTaxi and Rocket
Internet-backed Easy Taxi. The organization expects the regulations to
be effective within the first half of next year.
Singapore may be a relatively small country with a population of
around five million, but there are nearly 30,000 registered taxi cabs
and car ownership is expensive. In a recent interview, Hailo’s Ron
Zeghibe told TechCrunch that it was “pretty clear” that taxi apps have
taken off in the country.
The proposed framework isn’t likely to cause much chaos for these
companies. They will be required to register with the TLA, and
provide the cost of fares upfront, which they already do. They must
also offer “basic” customer support services, and all drivers
should hold Taxi Driver’s Vocational Licences. That’s another thing
each company already adheres to, even drivers of UberX — the
ride-sharing service — are commercially licensed in Singapore.
One clause may be problematic for GrabTaxi and Easy Taxi, however,
and that’s a proposal that passengers should not have to disclose their
intended destination as part of their booking.
Uber and Hailo adhere to this, but GrabTaxi and Easy Taxi may need to
adjust their apps in response, perhaps making end location data
optional. Neither company provided comment to TechCrunch at the time of
writing. Uber and GrabTaxi both released positive statements
when contacted.
In addition, an Uber representative told TechCrunch that these rules will apply only to taxi services, and not its UberX or UberExec services.
source:techcrunch
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