Instead of plying the roads, some 800 Trans-Cab taxis lie idle at a yard in Defu Lane. Many cabbies have given up the trade, citing higher rentals, stricter service standards, competition from newcomers such as Uber and GrabCar, and higher incidence of traffic summonses as reasons for doing so. Trans-Cab, the second largest taxi operator here, is one of the biggest victims of this fallout.

Having experienced the benefits of those taxi apps as compared to their own dispatch system, they switch.