Get ready to pay more on Comfort Delgro taxis

Get ready to pay more when you hop into a Comfort or CityCab taxi next week.

Passengers will have to pay a 30 cent diesel surcharge on all rides from Thursday onwards.

That's because global oil prices have more than doubled in the last 12 months and are currently trading at an all time high.

Comfort Delgro says, this new surcharge will help taxi drivers counter the hike in diesel prices.

It adds, assuming a cabbie makes about 30 trips a day, the surcharge will increase his or her daily takings by about nine dollars in all.

Many regular taxi users are not pleased with this fare hike.

"This surcharge is not a good idea because transport fees in Singapore is already so high, no one is going to take taxis anymore. And it's not good for the company,  it's not good for us either because not a lot of Singaporeans are earning a lot of pay. For myself, I can easily in one week spend 20 dollars on public transport. One week! Being a student, imagine 20 dollars a week, that accumulates to 60, 80 dollars? And that's really unaffordable for me."

"While I understand that with inflation and everything,  prices are bound to increase but I think it's a bit much to take at one go because it wasn't too long ago that taxi fares went up and then now they're introducing more gantries and then now they're going to have the diesel surcharge. So, I think it's all coming at one time and it's a little bit much for commuters."

Other taxi companies may also be imposing a similar surcharge in the future.

For one, SMRT Taxis says, in the face of rising diesel costs, they are looking at options, including the possibility of a fuel surcharge.

Prime taxis says, it's currently gathering feedback from its cabbies about a possible surcharge.

It will come to a decision in about a week's time. -938Live

"This surcharge is not a good idea because transport fees in Singapore is already so high, no one is going to take taxis anymore. And it's not good for the company,  it's not good for us either because not a lot of Singaporeans are earning a lot of pay. For myself, I can easily in one week spend 20 dollars on public transport. One week! Being a student, imagine 20 dollars a week, that accumulates to 60, 80 dollars? And that's really unaffordable for me."

i agree with this person says but i think he shouldn't be the one saying that. student take taxi?

overall, the 30 cents is justificable for its purpose.

“This surcharge is not a good idea because transport fees in Singapore is already so high, no one is going to take taxis anymore.

I don’t think so, there are still many corporate passengers around, just recently i pickup one japanese staff from JAL at Hong Leong Building, she is a Sales Executive and she need to meet her client everyday those Japanese Companies around Singapore, as she told me per day two all three courtesy call and promoting their compny latest products, and her company is paying this taxi fares, still consider it is cheaper by not using their company car.

  I support CASE suggestion,waive the Taxi-booking fee.Without this booking fee,passengers dont mind pay extra 30 cents,sametime,it can minimise empty cab travelling on the road.

case? powerless lah… petrol up they also lan lan… food up they also lan lan… MRT/bus up they also lan lan…useless organisation… for show only… in fact i find them irritating…

I expected this shit to happen .... looked like i have to content with less customers for the next 3 weeks or so .

Anyway .... $0.30 , or no $0.30 , make no diff to me , the more important thing is what make my trip connections possible .

With so many taxis on the road now , and less customers taking a cab , especially peak hour , making connection is tough , have to crack my brain more this time around .

Another change of environment , meaning another change of my mindset , and my habit , a change of my attitude .

With the new ERP structure and pricing , driving a cab can be a bit stressful at times .

New Cabbies will find it hard to subbstain the pressure , they will crack under pressure .

Anyway .... my advice to my fella cabbies .... be vigilent , just dun give up becos the weather changed again , if the weather is hot , wear something cooler , if the weather is cold , wear a sweater .

Know what i mean ?

Be even more clever than now to the changing environment .... be fast to react to the changes , ahead of others , think faster , work faster , driver safer , then u will beat the rest .

chee bong.

why we consumers must bear.

waive taxi booking fee? i spend 5-10mins to rush to the pickup point, used time & diesel. reach there pax already took another taxi which so happened to drop some body at the very location. if along the way i saw potential pax on at the roadside, but forego due to this booking, end result lost both booking AND street hire AND wasted time & diesel. claim from who? conversely, since there's no benefit in accepting bookings, cabby may just opt for the readily available street hire and forget about the booking. a bird in the hand...won't work right? both pax/cabby may just take the first available taxi/passenger that comes along despite the booking. only if the system works like that in suburban Japan - no street hire, only call. also pax must co-operate not to flag taxi on the street and taxi driver must not do street hire. just don't see it happening in sg...the convenience of flagging a cab.

i may be mistaken, but i think many cabbies also do not agree with the surcharge. with more passengers, diesel cost can be covered. this surcharge will only result in less, not more passengers. so typical of the big boys to push all the costs to the consumers and drivers. LL. losers will most likely be the cabbies.

FI old ta jie ta , if consumer dun pay , who pay ? PM Lee ?

I have to surrender , LTA have almost succeedd in getting the rich Shenton Way white collar people taking a MRT .

KCTK , same thinking , the killer blow is peak hour 35% surcharge ..... If there's no 35% surcharge , this $0.30 is nothing for commuters .

Cos they understood .

But they never will understand why the 35% is for ?

It will be nice to move the peak hour surcharge to just 20% .

As in $10 , $2 xtra surcharge , $20 to $4 extra .

Nvrmind , i will talk to the boss this Monday . Yeo Bang Seng , right ?

heard train and buses fares may be going up 3%... and evening train is still packed… bad for commuters but good for cabbies…

Found this interesting online forum. "Should Cab firms, not commuters, should bear fuel levy for rides?".

This is according to the writer contributed. It is unfair for commuters who have already felt the pain of the recent taxi fare hikes. My view is that 30-cents levy was imposed on the public because of Comfort DelGro's clout. Why must commuters who are partronising what is still regarded as public transportation be treated as if they were taking privated transportation? We are made to pay for what ever effect the cabbies. Shouldn't the taxi companies take the heat? The suggestion: A fairer way is perhaps to charge the levy for fares over a certain distance, say after the first 3 km. So Gurus what is your comments. For just this 30-cents, people are voicing out so loudly, what about ERP not 30-cents ...more. What they can do lan lan right also pay.

The last paragraph, Comfort DelGro is sending a message to cabbies which reads: "If you don't have passengers, you won't enjoy the fuel levy, and if you do, you would have lightened your burden a little"

Why Kinwashi u most attached a quote with extended paragraphs , hard to read .

Originally posted by Poolman:

Why Kinwashi u most attached a quote with extended paragraphs , hard to read .

fixed the prob & hope this is better now..

hmmz, first day of 30cents surcharge. no adverse effects, not a single passenger complained, earnings up a few bucks. early days yet.

30cts ok lah. also can understand that petrol now so expensive... 

if u wan take cab prepare to pay oledy loh... 

only thing i still pissed abt is the ERP gantries... 

downtown line 2 many stations along bukit timah. got rider meh? bukit panjang understand, blackmore station, 6th ave station? today's straits times 'punchlines' best -

reporter : "as a resident of bukit timah, what's your preferred mode of transport when the downtown line is open"

bukit timah resident : "JAGUAR"

good one and may be representative of most residents in this area. hope so for us cabbies sake.

price upz agian... sian.

Commuters stick with taxis on Day 1 of fuel surcharge

A new, 30-cent fuel surcharge levied by Singapore's biggest cab company does not seem to have turned commuters off taxis.

The surcharge, imposed on the back of rising diesel prices, came into effect yesterday on all of ComfortDelGro's cabs. Its drivers told The Straits Times that the increase has not hurt business.

Cabby Ken Chian, 39, said that while some passengers asked about the extra 30 cents, there were no complains. "A few sounded quite resigned and said they don't have a choice," said Mr Chian.

Diesel prices have jumped by more than 50% in the last six months, putting pressure on cabbies and bus operators. Commuters said they understand the predicament taxi drivers are in, and most did not mind paying the extra 30 cents.

Mr Devdutt Sridharan, 23, an air force pilot, said: "It's a resonable increase, especially with the rise in oil prices these days." Some commuters, however, were concerned that they would have to pay more in the future.

Housewife Rohani Nadir Mohammad, 47, said: "If they keep increasing fares with these small levies, eventually, it will add up to quite a hefty sum." In the wake of the ComfortDelGro increase, three other operators - Premier Taxis, Trans-Cab and Smart Taxis - have said they will follow suit.

The remaining two operators, SMRT and Prime Taxis, said they have not yet decided on whether to go ahead with the surcharge.

When contacted yesterday, ComfortDelGro spokesman Tammy Tan said it is too early to tell the impact of the surcharge on call bookings.

TO FOLLOW

Besides ComfortDelGro, three other taxi companies will soon impose a 30-cent fuel surcharge:

1) Premier Taxis - From next Thursday

2) Trans-Cab - From July 28

3) Smart Taxis - From Aug 1

SMRT and Prime Taxis should just go ahead and charge this 30cents surcharge. It would only be their loss if they dont. For other i dont know la, but for me, i wont purposely wait for a SMRT or Prime Taxi to come along to board.. If i need to take a cab, whichever cab comes along first, i take.

Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, July 19

SMRT Taxis to introduce 30—cent fuel surcharge

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s second largest cab operator, SMRT Taxis, will introduce a 30—cent fuel surcharge for all diesel taxi rides from July 26.

SMRT Taxis, which has a fleet of 3,000 cabs, says the surcharge will apply to all flag—down trips, as well as call centre and advanced bookings.

The company says it will continue to help the taxi drivers cope with rising operating costs, by offering diesel subsidies and low rental packages.

SMRT Taxis says it will remove the surcharge when diesel price drops to S$1.19 per litre, which was the market rate in December last year.

It is the third taxi company to announce the fuel surcharge.

Singapore’s biggest taxi operator, Comfort DelGro, was the first to implement the surcharge on July 17.

SMART Automobile will start the surcharge from August 1. — CNA/ir

They raise taxi fares to help cabbies with the increase in diesel price the last time

then now they tell us they need to charge a fuel surcharge to help cabbies with the increase in diesel price (yet again)