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SINGAPORE – Taxi drivers and private rental cars will receive more subsidies to offset their car rental fees starting next year, the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) said on Wednesday (December 16).
This is intended to help cushion the impact of a self-employed relief plan that is coming to an end.
Top full-time private driver and taxi contractors in the point-to-point (P2P) transportation sector will receive $ 600 per vehicle each month between January and March 2021, up from $ 300, LTA announced.
This will drop to $ 450 per month between April and June.
LTA said that this new scheme, called the Covid-19 Driver Relief Fund, will cost $ 133 million.
It replaces the Special Aid Fund, through which P2P drivers have received payments since February.
Total assistance provided to the sector currently stands at about $ 380 million.
P2P drivers who receive payments under the new fund will not be eligible for the Covid-19 Recovery Grant announced by the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
Approximately 52.00 drivers (major taxi contractors and full-time private rental car drivers) eligible for the Special Aid Fund will automatically move to the Covid-19 Driver Aid Fund starting next month.
LTA said the sector-specific pay increase will moderate the impact of the end of the Self-Employed Income Relief Program. This plan, introduced in March, provided the self-employed with three quarterly cash payments of $ 3,000 each to help them with the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
Explaining the ongoing payments for drivers, LTA said: “Despite the improvement of the Covid-19 situation in Singapore, the number of passengers in taxis and private rental cars is still lower than pre-Covid levels, as tourist activities remain silent and many employees still work from home.
“Covid-19 has also changed travel patterns, with shorter trips by taxi and private rental cars, resulting in lower rates per trip.”
LTA added that it has been monitoring the situation and paying particular attention to concerns drivers have about their income and livelihoods.
The authority said in an update in November that the number of passengers in taxis and private rental cars was still at 75 percent of pre-Covid-19 levels.
But this figure is at the high end of estimates made by drivers and taxi companies, who have said passenger numbers are slightly above 66 percent of pre-outbreak levels.
A first $ 77 million package was first announced in February to help the P2P sector, followed by a $ 120 million package in March.
The third $ 112 million package was announced in September, with passenger numbers still at lower levels than before the pandemic. Of this sum, $ 106 million was set aside to extend the Special Aid Fund until next March. About half of the $ 106 million has been committed to the fund so far, with the remaining sum going to the new driver assistance fund.
State Minister for Transport Amy Khor said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that P2P drivers should be able to benefit from more activities in the community with phase three of Singapore’s reopening.
He added that he has met with representatives from the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Rental Vehicle Association (NPHVA) to understand their concerns.
During Wednesday’s meeting he also “assured them that we will continue to support them in whatever way we can.”
NTA and NPHVA said in a joint statement that they are grateful for the latest round of support measures.
“This payment will bring a lot of relief to our drivers as even though the economy is opening up, it is still not at pre-Covid levels,” they said.
The two associations said on Wednesday that they have also helped some 13,000 drivers apply for the NTUC Care Fund (Covid-19) since it was launched in March. The fund provides payments of up to $ 300 to help affected union members get through tough times.
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