Private cars doubling as pirate taxis - numbers are rising
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Private cars doubling as pirate taxis - numbers are rising
MORE drivers are using their own cars to provide illegal taxi services - a situation reminiscent of Singapore's pre-1970s pirate taxi days.
In the first nine months of this year, 39 motorists were arrested for using their cars as taxis. Only 12 were arrested last year, while in 2012, there were no arrests.
The Land Transport Authority, which provided these figures, said that arrests were made after feedback was received from various sources. It receives an average of 70 complaints a year about such illegal taxi services.
Such services can be found on online classified sites such as Gumtree, 88DB and Locanto.
Drivers who offer such a service said they know it is illegal but did not think they would get caught. They usually offer an hourly rate, day rate or per-trip rate. One such driver is a former sales executive who is currently unemployed. She charges an hourly rate of $40 and makes about $400 a week chauffeuring passengers in her Toyota Altis.
"It's not enough to pay for the monthly car instalments but it helps," said the 25-year-old, who asked not to be named.
Luxury cars like BMWs and Audis are also being hawked as taxis. One Audi A5 driver said he could make as much as $4,000 a month. "I do everything; I can pick up kids, take you to work, and then take you home in the evening," he said, adding that he sometimes doubles as a babysitter. "My customers like that I am good with kids; I have to entertain them sometimes in the car," said the 32-year-old, who is also a property speculator.
Drivers said that while their prices are higher than taxis', their passengers prefer the familiarity and personalised service, adding that passengers tend to be well-to-do executives.
They said most bookings were pre-arranged and they generally did not get calls from people who needed a taxi on the spot because they could not get one outside.
National Taxi Association adviser Ang Hin Kee points out that there are safety concerns with such an arrangement.
"You don't know whether the insurance covers the passengers involved (in case of accidents)," he said, noting that in the case of licensed taxi drivers, both the vehicles and drivers have to meet standards and benchmarks.
Under the Road Traffic Act, it is illegal to use, rent or hire out a private car to convey passengers for reward. Offenders could face up to six months in jail, be fined up to $3,000 and have their vehicles forfeited. For not having valid insurance, drivers would be disqualified from driving for a year, and could be jailed for up to three months and fined a maximum of $1,000.
Mr Ang, an Ang Mo Kio GRC MP, raised this issue in Parliament recently. He told The Straits Times the Government should find a way to legitimise such services.
"My purpose is not to advocate (enforcement); these people need to make a living too. The Government should find a way to legitimise them so they would be able to operate on a level playing field (with taxis)," he said.
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This usually happens when there is a downturn in economy, and especially from the property and insurance sector, whereby most of these young peoples had overly committed financially with luxuries goods and lifestyle.. and when sales drop and job become irregular, even driving Audi 5 also hv to become illegal driver...ani kwan..my BM 5s also can join in liao. I think the laws is in place, and the authority, who were voted to ensure laws and orders, should act on it, because what Ang ku kueh said is right, if accident happen, it will be a mess. Not only it must take on these illegal drivers, it must also educate the public the penalty in engaging them, the enforcement must work both way inorder for it to be successful... However, instead of curbing all these illegal stuffs, our LTA and TP and PTC are more interested in Adv Cams, more cameras on the rule, summon taxis, fine for illegal u turn, take photos on bus lanes...nabey
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"One Audi A5 driver said he could make as much as $4,000 a month"
Choon bo???
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Who knows... they charge flat rate 60 per trip .... who knows? Haha.
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Originally posted by Elginang:
Who knows... they charge flat rate 60 per trip .... who knows? Haha.
Spore lang willing to spend so much meh on tis type pte booking?
I don't think so la hehe
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A5 cost around 230k including COE, what is $4000 per month? You will be surpirse that most of these people doing private job are also taxi drivers who own A5
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maybe the driver strike toto, buy A5 be pirate taxi driver. Who knows? Alot of assumption. haha.
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Wah so laku. I go chut A5 now...
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Originally posted by hammerhammer8888:
Wah so laku. I go chut A5 now...
A5 where got saiki.....go drive lambo la. put 200 dollars per trip. haha.
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Originally posted by hammerhammer8888:
Wah so laku. I go chut A5 now...
大师兄，WTF La，What A5 La, Take your mother BMW 5 series can liao La !
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No more 5 lah...change to this liao lah....
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Driving luxury car is not about buying alone, anyone can buy... ...more important are the maintenances cost, you go into service only, chao chao $600, change parts only, chao chao 1k++, major problem only, chao chao 10k, then change tyre also must change good one, chao chao 200++ per tyre, +++parking, insurance, petrol (gd grade) road tax..., and for german marque, try to avoid VW and Audi, lots of gear box problem $4000 per month ferry peoples is not worthy when you take into the account of the cost of operating. It could be lesser.
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As long as you are happy and safe, it fine, just remember to attend church and thanks God