Singapore’s LTA moves to regulate taxi-booking apps

By Gabey Goh November 25, 2014

Taxi apps welcome regulatory move

When contacted by DNA for comment, all the major taxi app startups active in Singapore expressed support for the regulatory framework’s introduction and implementation.

In a statement, a Hailo spokesperson said the company is “continuously working with the LTA and taxi companies to maintain a mutually beneficial offering for taxi drivers and commuters.”

Uber Technologies’ regional general manager for South-East Asia Mike Brown said the company “welcomes the LTA’s announcement to introduce a new regulatory framework for third-party taxi booking apps.”

“This is great news for residents and visitors to Singapore, and especially for taxi drivers. We appreciate that the LTA has acknowledged the benefits our technology brings, and like Uber, is putting the interest and safety of consumers and drivers first,” he said in a statement.

Singapore’s LTA moves to regulate taxi-booking apps: Page 2 of 2 Easy Taxi Singapore managing director Jianggan Li (pic) also welcomed the new regulations, saying that these would give all stakeholders (including drivers and passengers) more clarity about the industry moving forward.

“Such clarity will also allow the players to focus more on matching supply and demand, as well as providing a better service. The regulations will also put to rest concerns over the legality and legitimacy of taxi-booking apps such as Easy Taxi here in Singapore,” he said.

Li also said that the company appreciated LTA’s extensive engagement and consultation with Easy Taxi prior to making and announcing these regulations.

“Compared with the other countries we operate in, we genuinely believe that the framework set by LTA is among the most comprehensive, open and encouraging as it covers aspects such as licensing, service levels and customer safeguards,” he added.

GrabTaxi Singapore general manager Lim Kell Jay called the regulations a “progressive development and a step in the right direction.”

“Third-party booking apps are now formerly acknowledged as a legitimate service that helps commuters. We are committed to continue working closely with the authorities to help improve Singapore's public transportation system,” he said.

All startups were also confident that adhering to the requirements of the new regulations would not be an issue.

“Hailo Singapore is not seeking to introduce unlicensed vehicles or impose prices that vastly exceed the regulated meter, and we aim to innovate constructively within the current legal and regulatory framework,” the Hailo spokesperson said.

In addition, Hailo does not feature bidding or pre-trip tipping in its app, and will not have any issues with that particular clause.

“Hailo ensures that both our drivers and passenger have the best experience by allocating bookings to drivers who are nearest to the passenger, rather than to drivers who respond to bookings most swiftly,” the spokesperson added.

In a report in Tech Crunch, Jon Russell noted that two startups – Easy Taxi and GrabTaxi – might need to change their apps to comply with the clause that passengers should not have to disclose their intended destination as part of their booking.

Responding to queries from Russell, a GrabTaxi spokesperson said the company doesn’t have plans to alter its app, but it will “continue to seek guidance” from the LTA.

Li told DNA that Easy Taxi’s app currently makes it mandatory for passengers to input their final destination but changes will be made to make it compliant with new regulations.

The new regulations also mandate that basic customer support services, which include lost and found services and avenues for commuters to raise queries and complaints, must be provided.

“For Easy Taxi, complying with the guidelines will not be a challenge as we are already implementing measures such vetting Taxi Driver Vocational Licenses, and lost and found services, in our day-to-day operations.

“We already have a customer service team and we are looking into growing this team in order to meet demand. We are confident that we can meet the second quarter of 2015 deadline,” Li said.

GrabTaxi’s Lim also said that his company intends to comply with the support services requirement: “We actually have most of these things in place in within the app.”

Karun Arya, Uber’s communications lead for South Asia, told DNA that customer support is of core importance to Uber and is a feature already native in its app.

“Riders can reply to their emailed receipt, email us or tweet us, and our local teams will respond within 24 hours, typically within an hour.

“Some riders have tweeted about getting items left behind pretty much within minutes. Sometimes drivers bring us items and we get it back to riders as soon as possible,” he added.

Hailo said it provides customers an easy way to contact the company with queries, and lost and found questions via the Help section on the app.

“On an on-going basis, we review the requirements for customer service set out by the LTA to ensure that Hailo continues to be compliant,” its spokesperson said.