Singapore’s second-largest taxi operator, Trans-Cab, is cutting rents in order to get more taxis to work with the company to reduce the cost of existing car rental companies.
The move comes from fierce competition between private leasing services Uber and Grab, which has led taxi drivers to abandon business or jump ship leasing cars and drive new players, observers say.
From January 1 onwards, Trans-Cab said it would reduce Toyota’s current daily rental rate from $ 90 now. The new fee will start at $ 59.50, down 34%. The Renault Latitude rate for three years or more will drop from $ 114 to $ 88.50, or 22%.
However, the revised rates apply only to the drivers who drive the cab alone, without the driver being relieved.
“As a result of competition from Uber and Grab, taxi drivers’ income is affected and they are harder to find relief drivers … By cutting rents, they can make money in a sense,” Chen Jun, general manager of the department, told the Straits Times yesterday. More.
In addition, according to the current plan, the taxi can get up to $ 405 a month reward, in order to obtain good performance and timely payment of rent. But this will be reduced to $ 140 with a lower rent plan.
Even with reduced incentives, Ms Tam said that as a result of reduced rents, the recurrent expenditure of drivers would be reduced by $ 500 to $ 650.
With the change, Trans-Cab also wants to hire more taxis. It has a 4,500 taxis, but about 500 – or 11% of people are idle.
Ang Hin Kee, executive counsel of the National Taxi Association, said the move welcomes Trans-Cab, noting that “lower rents will help reduce the burden on taxi drivers and reduce passenger traffic, especially at night.”
The report notes that passengers are moving from taxis to private taxis, which charge 50% of the midnight surcharge and do not impose such a levy.
Lee Der Horng, a transportation researcher at the National University of Singapore, said the rent reduction for Trans-Cab was “quite substantial”.
He thinks the company is doing it to “stop bleeding,” adding: “For the taxi industry, an unaudited taxi takes about seven rental cabs to cover the cost.
Dr. Lee said Trans-Cab’s move should put pressure on other taxi companies. ComfortDelGro, SMRT and Prime, however, no comment.
Premier Taxis says it constantly reviews and adjusts its tax rates. As to how many of its 1,953 taxis were not employed, the company said it was “in line with the competition.”
Together, the five companies operate more than 27,500 taxis. It is estimated that there are about 25,000 private car hire, leasing companies to provide the car as low as 60 US dollars.
53-year-old former child, Sarrudin Jailani, 53, drove a taxi for nine years and left the company two years ago to suspect he would accept the offer. In addition to dealing with competition, it is not easy to work without relief drivers, the security coordinator said.
“Even Uber cars can have a relief driver,” he said.
This article was first published on Dec 29, 2016.
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