Facilitating Cross-border Taxi Transfers between Singapore and Johor While Safeguarding Singapore P2P Drives' Livelihoods

1 Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Acting Minister for Transport what considerations have been put in place to ensure that Singaporean taxi and private hire drivers' livelihoods are safeguarded even if more licences are made available to Malaysian cross-border services upon review of the Cross Border Taxi Scheme.

2 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Acting Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry is looking into facilitating more point-to-point (P2P) transfers between Singapore and Johor Bahru given the setting up of Johor-Singapore Economic Zone; and (b) if so, how will the Ministry safeguard the livelihood of Singapore P2P drivers given the large cost disparity of driving Malaysian-registered and Singapore-registered vehicles.

The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Acting Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 1 to 2 in today’s Order Paper together, please?

Mr Speaker: Go ahead.

Ms Sun Xueling: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been conducting enforcement operations against illegal point-to-point (P2P) services. Since July this year, the LTA has impounded 107 vehicles whose drivers were caught providing illegal services.

We recognise that there is demand from commuters for more convenient cross-border P2P services. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) and LTA have been exploring options to enhance the existing arrangements. For instance, under the Cross Border Taxi Scheme, we are discussing with Malaysia possible options to liberalise the scheme, including to allow Malaysian cross-border taxis to drop off passengers anywhere in Singapore, and Singaporean taxis to do likewise in Johor Bahru. This will provide greater convenience to commuters from both countries.

To minimise foreign taxis cruising around empty and potentially carrying out illegal trips, these foreign taxis would only be allowed to pick up passengers at designated points so that they do not infringe into the local P2P market. However, for the convenience of commuters, we will identify more pick-up points in both Johor Bahru and Singapore. We will discuss options with the Malaysian authorities on a reciprocal basis.

We will continue to engage the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) to take in their suggestions.

We are also exploring using location tracking, including ERP 2.0, and other measures to prevent illegal trips by cross-border taxis within Singapore.

LTA will continue its enforcement efforts even after enhancements to the existing arrangements are rolled out.

Mr Speaker: Ms Yeo Wan Ling.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Punggol): Thank you, Speaker. I declare I am the adviser to NTA and NPHVA. Given the deep social and economic ties between Singapore and Malaysia, our drivers have expressed through the associations that they are excited that the calls to review and update the current Cross Border Taxi Scheme are being looked into. Ensuring that the scheme remains relevant as consumption patterns change is critical, as this is a livelihood stream for 200 of our Singapore cross-border drivers.

With the programme being updated, and I have taken note of the Senior Minister of State's response, with the increasing demands for P2P drop-offs, how will the Ministry use technology such as online booking platforms and in-vehicle tracking units to ensure that there is fair competition between Singapore-licensed and Malaysian-licensed vehicles, noting that there are fare and exchange rate differences? Also, more importantly, how will the Ministry look to expanding the scheme to allow our drivers broader earning opportunities?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her supplementary questions. Indeed, there is a lot of unmet demand from commuters who would like to travel more frequently across the border. We have families with children, families with the elderly, families who want to visit relatives in Johor Bahru. They want to do shopping trips. They want to go on short holidays. So, it is under these conditions that we are looking at how to enhance the current Cross Border Taxi Scheme.

The Member had some questions with regard to the use of technology. We see that some of our taxi operators have already rolled out online booking forms, phone calls as well, to facilitate doorstep pick-up in Singapore. At the same time, I have shared that we can make use of the installation of the on-board unit (OBU), especially on foreign taxis, in order to enhance location tracking. And not to forget our platform operators, the ride-hail platform operators, also have technology platforms that they can use to enhance location tracking.

So, these are ways in which we can ensure that foreign vehicles are not conducting illegal P2P trips in Singapore.

The second question she had was with regard to fares. When it comes to fares, we will have discussions with the NTA as well as the NPHVA to understand what are the reasonable fares we should be looking at to enhance cross-border trips. We know that there are cost disparities between the cost of operating as well as driving in Singapore versus Johor Bahru, so, we will take this into consideration when setting fares.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ang Wei Neng.

Mr Ang Wei Neng (West Coast-Jurong West): Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Senior Minister of State Sun for the comprehensive reply. Before I go on, let me declare I am the CEO of Strides Premier, a company that provides cross-border taxi service as well.

I have a few supplementary questions. First of all, what is the plan that LTA has to expand the fleet of 200 cross-border taxis to more, and whether it will allow the application by a taxi driver on a monthly basis, rather than restrict it to once a year?

Secondly, what is the plan to expand this cross-border taxi service to private hire cars? Because private hire cars' pricings are quite dynamic and as pointed out by the Senior Minister of State, the operating cost of driving a P2P vehicle in Johor Bahru is a small fraction of what is the cost in Singapore. So, how would MOT consider measures to prevent the undercutting of fares in this matter? And thirdly, when the Senior Minister of State says that LTA wants to increase the number of drop-off points in Malaysia and Singapore – currently, there is only one drop-off point in Johor Bahru and it is in Larkin; and in Singapore, there is one drop-off point – how many drop-off points is MOT thinking of having? Is it five? Is it 10 or is it 20?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. There have been several discussions between Singapore's MOT as well as Malaysia's Ministry of Transport and Agensi Pengangkutan Awam Darat (APAD). Amongst the discussion points that we have include a higher quota of taxis for each country, the introduction of larger multi-purpose vehicle taxi models and the use of ride-hailing apps to make bookings.

The Member had a second question with regard to private hire vehicles. This, I would approach cautiously because we have been having discussions with our local NPHVA. They are conscious that if we should liberalise the Cross Border Taxi Scheme too widely and not have a separate scheme for private hire vehicles, there could be a situation where private hire vehicles could end up providing illegal P2P services in Singapore.

I think what is important to note is that any vehicle, especially those which are foreign that operate in Singapore, they need to have the necessary decals, the necessary livery, so that is very clear that they are part of a licence scheme that has been negotiated between both countries, and not individuals owning private hire vehicles conducting illegal P2P trips.

Sorry, the Member had a third question. Yes, could I ask him to repeat that?

Mr Ang Wei Neng: Yes, thank you to the Senior Minister of State. My third question is that we know the cost of operating a taxi in Malaysia is a small fraction of the cost of operating a taxi in Singapore. So, when we increase the fleet size and also liberalise the cross-border taxi services, how could we ensure that the parties will not undercut the fare?

Ms Sun Xueling: Thank you. I had shared in my main reply that part of the discussions that we are having with the Malaysian authorities is to allow Singapore as well as Malaysian vehicles to drop off at any point in Singapore and in Johor Bahru, because there is demand, this is a need that has been expressed by commuters.

But that said, it is very important that we enforce effectively. And that is why I have emphasised the need for us to have the installation of the OBU, for instance, for the purposes of location tracking and also discussing with platform operators to use their technology platforms to track where the vehicles are going.

Mr Speaker: Ms Yeo, keep it short.

Ms Yeo Wan Ling: Thank you, Speaker. I note that Senior Minister of State had in her reply talked about working with ride-hail platforms, and I also have reports of ride-hail platforms from across the border being set up, introducing cross-border taxi services. How will LTA or MOT be working with these overseas registered apps to ensure that there is parity and fairness when it comes to offering such rides in Singapore as well as in Malaysia?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for her supplementary question. Such apps have to be recognised by both Singapore and Malaysia. So, where we are aware that there are apps that are being used to provide cross-border services, but have actually not been endorsed by our local authorities before-hand, we will investigate. We cannot allow the proliferation of apps that have not been discussed between both authorities before. This is to ensure that there will not be illegal P2P trips being conducted via such apps.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ang. Keep it short as well.

Mr Ang Wei Neng: Thank you, Speaker. I have asked a question on how could we prevent the undercutting of fares, because the cost of operating a taxi in Malaysia is only a fraction of the cost of operating a taxi in Singapore.

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his question. As part of the review of the Cross Border Taxi Scheme, we will be consulting our associations to ensure that fares are reasonable to our passengers, while providing assurance to Singaporean drivers that cross-border trips are viable, given their operational cost.

I think what the Member is concerned about is rides that are illegal, and the fares of these illegal rides are undercutting the fares and the services that are being provided by legal provision of such services. So, for such illegal provision of services where fares are undercutting the fares that are pre-negotiated between both countries' authorities, we will enforce in a strict manner against such illegal providers of services.

Mr Speaker: Last supplementary question. Assoc Prof Jamus Lim. Keep it short.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Thank you, Speaker. If I may build on the question by Ms Yeo earlier on, I have also received feedback from residents engaged in private hire vehicle services that these illegal ride-hailing services are offered not just via unauthorised apps, but also via chat groups.

My first question is I am wondering whether the Ministry has a sense of the pervasiveness of such illegal services being offered via chat groups as well as apps. And secondly, if the Ministry has a plan to crack down on such means of securing services, for example, using "secret shopper" or methodologies of this nature?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his question. Under Singapore's laws, the Government can order the take down of content linked to illegal activities and non-compliance can lead to further enforcement actions like blocking access or app removal. So, this is with regards to illegal chat groups that promote the provision of illegal P2P services.

MOT and LTA are also looking to obtain further legal powers to ensure that online platforms comply with LTA's removal request for illegal P2P services should the platforms remain unresponsive. At the same time, the LTA has also been conducting operations to infiltrate into these chat groups and to take action against providers of such illegal services. Unfortunately, for operational reasons, I cannot share more details. But rest assured that LTA is aware of the situation.