Competition between taxi companies and private-hire transportation service providers appears to heat up as ambassadors from ride-hailing giant, Grab, were spotted at a Resorts World Sentosa taxi stand, allegedly touting the benefits of Grab rides and directing commuters to use Grab instead of waiting for a taxi.
Netizen Jason Tan who snapped the photo asserted that it is unfair of Grab to “steal business” this way and indicated that it makes the playing field more uneven, in the favor of private-hire vehicle drivers: “Now grab have authorise can come to the taxi stand to ask passengers to take grab car soon later in Singapore all is grab car no more taxi already can LTA do something about this a not?”
Private-hire vehicle drivers are barred from stopping at or picking up passengers from taxi stands – this may be Grab’s way of circumventing the obstacle of their drivers not being to make pick-ups at such prominent spots.
Additionally, Grab may also be retaliating after taxi giant Comfort DelGro apparently sent out an SMS to its taxi drivers urging them to turn in private-hire car drivers who pick up or drop off passengers at taxi stands.
The SMS indicated that ComfortDelGro will help to forward complaints to Land Transport Authority, and that informants may have to testify in court against errant private-hire drivers who use taxi stands, if necessary.
In September, Grab again made a move against Comfort DelGro by apparently trying to poach their drivers, by offering steep discounts to drivers who rent their daily vehicle via one of Grab’s partner companies.
Grab offered a daily rental discount of up-to S$50 (US$36) to drivers who rented from the four local companies in its network. The companies are Premier, Prime, SMRT and TransCab (and are all of the other Taxi companies in Singapore besides Comfort).
Furthermore, if Comfort drivers switch to private-hire cars rented from Grab they will receive a S$1,688 (US$1,255) monthly discount upon completing 20 trips per week.
https://theindependent.sg.sg/comfortdelgro-urges-taxi-drivers-to-inform-on-private-hire-car-drivers-who-use-taxi-stands/
https://theindependent.sg.sg/grab-makes-move-to-undercut-comfortdelgro-in-singapore-is-uber-on-their-mind/