THE standardisation of taxi rates without covering flag-down fares won't solve the problem ("New rules seek to simplify taxi fares"; yesterday).
Taxi companies can simply increase the flag-down fare to enable their drivers to cover the shortfall resulting from the standardisation of surcharges.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) must avoid piecemeal regulation and deregulation, where the former is to control the surcharges, booking fees and meter fares, and the latter is designed to allow taxi companies to decide the flag-down fares on their own.
Why make tier regulations so complicated? The problem is not just the varying degrees of charges, but also the confusion over flag-down fares for commuters, who often do not know the flag-down fare for each taxi model. There are stickers displaying the flag-down fare on each taxi, but most commuters do not pay attention to them.
To have standard charges, taxi companies should consider standardising taxi models so that they will all fall under the same certificate of entitlement (COE) category.
Taxi companies must be able to make a forecast on the lifespan of the fleet, and make provisions for COE fluctuation when their taxis are due for replacement. Now, taxi companies are charging higher rentals for new vehicles, to factor in the COE prices and the cost of the new vehicles, and these costs are passed down to commuters.
Currently, commuters know the total cab fare only at the end of the journey, after all the surcharges have been included, as the running fare displayed on the meter during the journey is not the total fare. So the total fare at the end of the journey can be a big shock.
The total cab fare, including the surcharges, should be displayed right from the start of the journey, and not only at the end, so that commuters can constantly be psychologically prepared for the fare they will have to pay.
It is clear from the latest moves that taxi fares and other charges are controlled items, so the LTA and the Public Transport Council can no longer argue that these charges are commercial decisions by taxi companies. The Government needs to intervene and standardise flag-down fares and other charges.
Francis Cheng
Taxi companies can simply increase the flag-down fare to enable their drivers to cover the shortfall resulting from the standardisation of surcharges.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) must avoid piecemeal regulation and deregulation, where the former is to control the surcharges, booking fees and meter fares, and the latter is designed to allow taxi companies to decide the flag-down fares on their own.
Why make tier regulations so complicated? The problem is not just the varying degrees of charges, but also the confusion over flag-down fares for commuters, who often do not know the flag-down fare for each taxi model. There are stickers displaying the flag-down fare on each taxi, but most commuters do not pay attention to them.
To have standard charges, taxi companies should consider standardising taxi models so that they will all fall under the same certificate of entitlement (COE) category.
Taxi companies must be able to make a forecast on the lifespan of the fleet, and make provisions for COE fluctuation when their taxis are due for replacement. Now, taxi companies are charging higher rentals for new vehicles, to factor in the COE prices and the cost of the new vehicles, and these costs are passed down to commuters.
Currently, commuters know the total cab fare only at the end of the journey, after all the surcharges have been included, as the running fare displayed on the meter during the journey is not the total fare. So the total fare at the end of the journey can be a big shock.
The total cab fare, including the surcharges, should be displayed right from the start of the journey, and not only at the end, so that commuters can constantly be psychologically prepared for the fare they will have to pay.
It is clear from the latest moves that taxi fares and other charges are controlled items, so the LTA and the Public Transport Council can no longer argue that these charges are commercial decisions by taxi companies. The Government needs to intervene and standardise flag-down fares and other charges.
Francis Cheng
