SINGAPORE: Taxi giant ComfortDelGro will launch a trial of a new ride-sharing service next month, the firm announced on Thursday (January 28).
The new service, which will launch on February 4, will involve “a small number of private rental cars” and aims to supplement its fleet of taxis, ComfortDelGro said in a press release.
“Upon completion of the beta test, which is expected to run through March 2021, the company will assess the response to the service and gradually open it up to more private rental car drivers,” he added.
ComfortDelGro is Singapore’s largest taxi company, operating about 60 percent of the country’s taxis under the Comfort and CityCab brands.
The company has seen its taxi numbers drop in recent years, from about 17,000 in 2016 to 9,551 in November last year, along with the rise in popularity of transportation services like Grab.
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In October last year, ComfortDelGro was one of four companies that were granted a three-year ride-sharing service operator license under the new Point-to-Point (P2P) Passenger Transportation Industry Act. .
The license allows ComfortDelGro to provide transportation services via taxis and private rental cars, said a spokesman for the Land Transportation Authority in response to inquiries from the CNA.
ComfortDelGro also holds a street hail service operator license, which allows you to continue to operate metered hail taxis.
The company had made an earlier foray into the transportation services market when it partnered with private transportation giant Uber in late 2017, in a deal that allowed ComfortDelGro taxis to be booked through the US firm’s app. .
The partnership, which would have seen ComfortDelGro acquire a 51 percent stake in the car rental company Lion City Rentals, which was then a subsidiary of Uber, fell through when Grab announced it was acquiring Uber’s business in Southeast Asia. .
ComfortDelGro also rents private vehicles through its car rental business.
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File photo of ComfortDelGro taxis parked at their vehicle inspection yard in Singapore. (Photo: Reuters / Edgar Su)
TWO OPTIONS FOR TRAVELERS
The new passenger transportation service will only be available through the ComfortRide option in the ComfortDelGro mobile app, the company said.
Passengers will have the option of being served only by taxis, or a taxi or a private rental car, similar to the JustGrab option in rival Grab’s mobile app.
Only cashless payments will be accepted within the app for the shared ride option, ComfortDelGro said, adding that there are no administrative fees for payments using credit or debit cards or other cashless payment modes.
Passengers hailing a taxi would normally have to pay such a fee, which costs 10 percent of the fare, when paying by credit or debit card.
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The company added that it would hire a “small group” of private drivers for the test in order to gather feedback, adding that it would gradually invite more drivers as demand grows.
“We will beta test 25 private rental car drivers and review it as we go along,” said Tammy Tan, director of corporate communications for the ComfortDelGro group, in response to CNA’s inquiries.
“The rate structure for the shared ride service follows our current ComfortRIDE rate structure.”
The taxi operator said the commission rate for such reservation jobs will be “lower than the current market rate,” but did not provide further details.
Private rental drivers typically pay around 20 percent of their rates as a commission for private transportation services like Grab or Gojek.
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The decal that all private vehicle drivers must display on their vehicles.
ADDRESSING DRIVER CONCERNS
The National Taxi Association (NTA), which represents the interests of taxi drivers and is affiliated with the National Union Congress (NTUC), has expressed concern about the new transportation service.
In a statement, NTUC Director Yeo Wan Ling noted that ComfortDelGro had told the NTA that the new service would help “increase the travel offering for travelers and consequently also expand the number of passengers for their taxi drivers ”.
“Some ComfortDelGro taxi drivers are concerned that this could negatively affect their income, especially as demand has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. There are also older drivers who may not be familiar with using mobile applications, ”said Ms Yeo, who is also a member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
“To address some of these concerns, one suggestion that came from our commitment to the land is to lower the rent in the event of a further drop in earnings.”
Most taxi drivers in Singapore rent their cabs from taxi operators, with rates that vary by company, as well as the age and model of the car.
It can cost more than S $ 100 a day for drivers to rent their cabs, although companies have offered rental rates in light of the industry recession due to COVID-19.
“While ComfortDelGro has supported the government’s plans and is proactive in implementing assistance for taxi drivers affected by the pandemic, the lives and livelihoods of our drivers remain a priority for NTA,” said Ms. Yeo.
“We will work with all parties to provide the necessary assistance to our drivers.”
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Singapore’s taxi industry took a massive hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, with some drivers reporting as much as 70 percent drop in revenue during the “switch” period as the number of tourists fell. and many people worked from home.
In December last year, authorities announced that taxi drivers and private rental vehicles would receive S $ 133 million in support from the Government in the form of a new COVID-19 Driver Assistance Fund.
The fund will provide drivers with S $ 600 per vehicle per month between January and March this year, and S $ 450 between April and June.
