Singapore—A Silvercab taxi that bore a “Fake Taxi” sticker on its boot has been recalled by its operator, Premier Taxis Pte Ltd. Apparently, “Fake Taxi” is a pornographic website, and the company has called an investigation into the matter.
The company’s attention was first called to the matter due to a photo shared by a netizen on crowdsourced news site Stomp on September 5. A man named Nicholas saw the “Fake Taxi” sticker on the boot of a cab at Bukit Merah.
“Fake Taxi” videos operate on the premise of drivers taking advantage of the financial difficulties of passengers and eventually coercing them to perform sexual acts in the back seat of the cab. This is done by actors and actresses. The site’s motto is, “No money, no problems.”
People who wish to view the videos have the option of purchasing a subscription from the site, effectively making the sticker on the cab an advertisement.
According to Nicholas, ”I think this is inappropriate for the public. The worst thing is this is not just any ordinary car, but a taxi.”
Premier Taxis Pte Ltd told Stomp, “We are concerned on the said matter.
We have recalled the vehicle to remove the sticker as well as to investigate on this matter.”
Speaking to The Straits Times (ST), lawyer Gloria James-Civetta, who heads Gloria James-Civetta & Co, said, ”There is no provision that covers car decals except for what can be advertised on a taxi.”
Ms James said that the sticker in question would qualify as an advertisement under the Road Traffic Ac. This act bans ads from being put on display on the interior and exterior of public service vehicles such as taxicabs with no prior approval from an authority.
As such, since there was no approval from any authority, having the sticker on the cab could be a punishable offense
However, another lawyer, Amarick Gill, the director of Amarick Gill LLC, told ST that he believes that the sticker need not be a reason to get concerned, saying, ”It isn’t clear that the decal shows a porn website. There is nothing defamatory or obscene about it.” -/TISG