Different Requirements for Taxi and Private Hire Drivers

1 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry requires Uber and GrabCar vehicles to have the same insurance and car inspection schedules as taxis in Singapore; (b) why is the duration of courses for taxi and private hire drivers different; (c) whether there is an age restriction on Uber and GrabCar drivers; and (d) whether permanent residents and work permit holders who possess Singapore driving licences are eligible to be Uber and GrabCar drivers.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mr Ng Chee Meng) (for the Minister for Transport): Mdm Speaker, the insurance requirements imposed on taxis and private hire cars are the same. The Motor Vehicles Act requires all motor vehicles, including taxis and private hire cars, to be insured against third-party liability risks, which include death or bodily injury to passengers. Specifically, this means that passengers in a private hire car that is involved in a motor accident can claim compensation from the owner of the private hire car or its insurer. Both taxis and private hire cars are required to procure insurance which covers the use of the vehicles for hire and reward purposes.

The inspection requirements for private hire cars are the same as those for private motorcars, while taxis have to go for more frequent inspections. This is because the Land Transport Authority (LTA)'s data show that, on average, currently, taxis run about 145,000 km annually, about five times the annual mileage of private hire cars. LTA will review the data regularly to see if there is a need to adjust the inspection frequency for private hire cars.

After the upcoming revamp, the taxi driving course will be shortened to about 25 hours, whereas the chauffeured services course will be about 10 hours long. The difference in training hours is mainly because taxi drivers can pick up street hail jobs, while private hire car drivers are not allowed to do so. Street hail jobs comprise 80% of all taxi trips, and the additional navigational and route planning components of the taxi driving course train taxi drivers for this. Taxi drivers must also be able to use a taxi meter correctly and be familiar with the various regulations concerning fare collection.

As announced during the Ministry of Transport (MOT)'s Committee of Supply debate recently, there will be no minimum age requirement for private hire car drivers. However, they must have held a driving licence for at least two years. The maximum age for private hire car drivers will be 75 years, like for taxi drivers.

Today, traditional limousine companies and car rental companies employ Permanent Residents and Work Pass holders as drivers. Work Pass holders are subject to Work Pass conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). They provide chauffeured services that can be chartered for trips like airport transfers and ferrying of VIPs at events. In order to not disrupt traditional limousine companies and car rental companies when the new regulatory regime is implemented, these Permanent Residents and Work Pass holders will also be able to apply for the Private Hire Car Driver Vocational Licence. However, Permanent Residents and Work Pass holders can only provide chauffeured services in the course of their employment under these car rental or limousine companies. This is unlike for Singaporeans, who can be Uber or GrabCar drivers as long as they are sole proprietors of a chauffeured services company. As we understand it, there are no Work Pass holders driving for Uber or Grab today.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Minister for the comprehensive answers. I have three supplementary questions. I have residents who are taxi drivers and their feedback is that they hope to see a more level playing field. To get the vocational driving licence, they have a certain minimum number of hours that they need to drive and clock in. They think that with these Uber and GrabCar drivers, the playing field is not level.

Secondly, from the commuters' point of view, with Uber and GrabCar, the overall service given to commuters should improve. I would like to ask the Minister whether there are any statistics, feedback and measurement to show that Uber and GrabCar bring positive impact to our commuters. If not, why should we have them in Singapore and create so much unhappiness amongst the taxi drivers?

Finally, the Minister mentioned earlier that there is no minimum age for Uber drivers. I would like to ask why it is so. For the safety of commuters, why can we not specify that there is a minimum age for Uber drivers?

Mr Ng Chee Meng: I thank the Member for the questions. With regard to a level-playing field, I will break down the answer into two components. First of all, in terms of the licensing requirements and so on, it is in accordance with the current practice. In terms of the need for a Taxi Vocational Licence or a Private Hire Car Driver's Licence (PDVL), there are different conditions. We follow industry practices as best as possible.

When it comes to the impact on taxi drivers and commuters, these were the stipulated principles of how we address the private-hire car industry. For most, it is commuters' interest; thereafter, the welfare of taxi drivers and private hire car drivers; and the third principle was to allow a transition for the companies, given this disruptive technology in Singapore.

If we really want to level the field completely, there are two major issues that may not bear the outcomes that we desire. Today, 80% of taxi trips are by street hail. If you completely level the playing field, it means that the private hire cars will have street hail privileges as well. This will not bring necessarily the outcomes desired, if it is a complete level playing field. So, in terms of welfare, transition for the taxi drivers, impact on income, we do not want these to be disrupted overnight. For commuters' interest, if you completely level the playing field and chauffeured service companies and taxi companies become homogenous, then, we will not be able to have the innovative disruption that private hire cars bring to the industry.

In the morning peak hours, when we have an inadequate supply of taxi drivers, the commuters' interests are served because there is a supplementary group of drivers that come in the form of Uber and Grab. They are mostly part-time drivers.

On the age limit, we think that safety is better ensured based on an estimate of how good a person is as a driver. So, we think that the requirement for at least two years of driving experience is adequate and we will continue to monitor the situation.

As to the age limit of taxi drivers being set at 30, it was for a different set of reasons. We are open to reviewing this if the taxi industry is requesting for minimum age requirements instead.

Mr Ang Hin Kee (Ang Mo Kio): A follow-up question for the Senior Minister of State. Let me declare my interest as the advisor for the National Taxi Association. Taking a step back, is it better that we have three categories of drivers, keeping the traditional limo drivers as a separate licence group, the taxi drivers as the first original group and then create a licence group for the private hire drivers from Uber and Grab? Right now, to simplify matters, we have added the traditional limo group into the Uber and Grab group and, therefore, you would require even the traditional group that had been driving without this requirement and new creation, to comply with all the rules. I thought the Ministry could take one step back and see that there are three categories of licences, so that the rules for Uber and Grab drivers become specific to their requirements and vocation, rather than have them mixed up.

Mr Ng Chee Meng: Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for the question. This was considered in our initial design of the system. It is possible, but at the moment, we think that two categories would be in better service of the three principles I have articulated. Breaking them up into different parts would mean limo drivers versus private hire car drivers; you will have too many categories. Many of the limo drivers that I meet at our discussions are also part-time Uber or Grab drivers. Like how we designed the Taxi Driver Vocational Licence versus the PDVL, we allow cross-licensing. This is part of the review to make it not too cumbersome with too many regulations and for the drivers to not need to jump through too many hoops.

It is early days yet. We have not implemented the licensing regime and done a post implementation review. We will take a year to implement. So, we will take your views into consideration.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. I just have a clarification regarding the answer on the status of persons allowed to drive an Uber or GrabCar. Is the Senior Minister of State saying that PRs and Work Permit holders who have the Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence (PDVL) are allowed to drive an Uber or GrabCar?

Mr Ng Chee Meng: They are not allowed to offer their services via Uber and GrabCar as sole proprietors. If they work in a company, which does not exist today, that is a possibility.