ComfortDelGro's rental waiver extension to cabbies matched by only 1 taxi firm

[SINGAPORE] It looks like not everyone will be matching taxi giant ComfortDelGro's extension of taxi rental waiver.

The Straits Times understands only SMRT will be extending the waiver to its cabbies for the second month till June 1, in line with the Government's move to continue with stay-home measures to beat the coronavirus outbreak for another month.

For the first month of the so-called "circuit breaker", all taxi operators waived rental, which amounts to around S$100 per day per cab.

But on April 22 - a day after the circuit breaker extension was announced - ComfortDelGro said that its rental waiver would be extended by another month.

At the time, other players said they were likely to match ComfortDelGro's move.

But on Monday, April 27, Trans-Cab, the second largest cab operator here, told its cabbies that it will charge S$21.40 a day from May 6 to June 1.

This caused a furore among its drivers.

Mr Low Choon Min, 62, said: "It's not fair. Why is it that ComfortDelGro can give free rental, but not Trans-Cab?"

Trans-Cab general manager Jasmine Tan said it could not afford to continue with zero rental because "this crisis is not going to end by June".

"We cannot use up all our resources," she said. "If we do, we will not be able to help our drivers later.

"We will monitor the situation, and progressively roll out assistance as necessary."

Premier Taxis and Prime Taxi have not decided on their course of action for the second month of the circuit breaker.

Neither have private-hire operators.

In the first month, Gojek granted rental waivers of up to 60 per cent and a 100 per cent commission waiver, while Grab implemented a 30 per cent rental waiver and a 50 per cent reduction in commission payment by its drivers.

THE STRAITS TIMES