ComfortDelGro to temporarily raise distance fares from Monday

Singapore's largest taxi operator, ComfortDelGro, will temporarily increase its distance fares by one cent from next Monday.

This is in response to the sharp increase in fuel prices in recent weeks, said the company yesterday, and follows moves by other point-to-point transport operators to impose temporary fees to help drivers cope with rising costs.

The temporary hike also comes less than a month after ComfortDelGro raised its fares for the first time in a decade on March 1. Flag-down fares for ComfortDelGro cabs went up by 20 cents, while distance fares went up by two cents.

The one-cent increase will affect distance and waiting time fares for all of ComfortDelGro's taxis.

Currently, the distance and waiting time fares are 24 cents for regular ComfortDelGro cabs and 33 cents for its limousine cabs. This is for every 400m travelled up to 10km, every 350m travelled after 10km, and every 45 seconds or less of waiting time.

These charges will be raised to 25 cents and 34 cents respectively from next Monday. This will translate into a fare increase of 32 cents for a 10km taxi ride, said the company, which operates a fleet of about 9,000 cabs here, or about 60 per cent of the taxi population.

Assuming they make 10 to 12 trips a day, ComfortDelGro cabbies can expect to earn between $3.20 and $3.84 more daily.

This will help to defray the additional fuel costs of about $3.55 to $13.50 that cabbies have had to stump up each day in the last month alone, said the firm.

ComfortDelGro said the temporary hike comes after "strong feedback" from drivers.

It will be reviewed by the end of May and will be removed if fuel prices ease.

Mr Jackson Chia, chief executive of ComfortDelGro Taxi, said: "Even though we have been absorbing a large part of the increase in fuel costs so that our drivers can enjoy a lower rate of $2.20 per litre of petrol, compared with the $3.05 per litre if they had pumped outside, they are still paying close to 14 per cent more than what they were paying in February...

"Even with the ongoing rental rebates and the special one-off rental rebate, drivers are still finding it difficult to make ends meet. We hope commuters will understand that this move is a measure of last resort and will be removed once fuel prices return to reasonable levels."

This is the second time ComfortDelGro has had to impose a temporary fuel-linked fare hike. The previous instance was in July 2008, when it imposed a 30-cent fuel surcharge as Brent crude oil hit an all-time high of US$147.50 that month.

The other four taxi operators here are likely to follow suit.

Ms Jasmine Tan, general manager of second-largest player Trans-Cab, said her company is in discussion with its drivers.

Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, which operates Prime Taxi, said his company is exploring the idea of imposing a temporary flat fee of 50 cents per trip for two months.

Ride-hailing firms are also imposing temporary fees in view of surging fuel costs. Grab will add a 50-cent fee per ride to all its services, except for the Standard Taxi service, from this Friday to May 31.

Tada is charging an extra 50 cents for short trips and 80 cents for longer ones between next Monday and May 31, and Gojek will charge 50 cents more for trips under 10km and 80 cents more for longer distances from Thursday.