Comfort ends cabby's contract after he films drunk passenger

Transport operator ComfortDelGro has ended the contract of a taxi driver who filmed a drunk passenger because he wanted to shame her after she did not pay her fare.

In a statement yesterday, ComfortDelGro's group chief corporate communications officer Tammy Tan said the way the driver handled the incident was unacceptable and the company has since terminated his hiring contract. "We are in contact with the passenger and have conveyed the outcome of our investigations to her," said Ms Tan.

A video shared on Facebook shows the passenger apparently in an intoxicated state. The cabby repeatedly says to her while they are outside the cab: "Do you want to pay the taxi fare? I will make you very famous." In response, she says several times: "I want to pay you the fee." She asks him if she can get her bag from the taxi but in the clip, she appears to be unable to find it.

"You're wasting my time. You're wasting everybody's time," says the driver, who adds that he picked the woman up somewhere in the Central Business District. He also says he had called the police.

Ms Tan yesterday said cabbies who encounter drunk passengers and fare evaders should not take matters into their own hands. Instead, they should report them to the police and the company.

The video, which has been viewed about 120,000 times, has drawn ire from netizens.

Facebook user Gabriel Lim wrote, addressing the cabby: "Even if she does not have the money on hand or (has) lost her bags, she wants to pay you the fare, or she might be able to call home to ask (her family) to bring the fare down for you.

"I don't think it's right to shame or insult her this way with your video or to tell the whole world where you picked her up, as it might be her workplace."

Netizen Edmund Chong said: "She might have forgotten to take her handbag or lost it after leaving the drinking place. There's no need to shout. Just call her family down to pay the fare."