10 more vehicles have been caught providing illegal ride-hailing services in Singapore.
They are among 102 impounded since July for the offence, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling in a Facebook post on Friday (3 Oct).
Source: Sun Xueling on Facebook
Ms Sun said the 10 vehicles were caught providing illegal cross-border and illegal point-to-point ride-hailing services.
They were impounded on Thursday (2 Oct), as part of operations conducted across Singapore.
Source: Sun Xueling on Facebook
Their drivers did not have the requisite licenses; neither did they have insurance coverage for passengers, she added.
Ms Sun revealed that the Singapore authorities had impounded 102 vehicles since July for providing such illegal services.
She thanked the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) for working with the authorities “to raise awareness of the issue”.
In a Facebook post on the same day, NPHVA said that it had tipped off the authorities, leading to the recent operations.
Source: Sun Xueling on Facebook
It also encouraged all drivers to report illegal activities to the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Thursday’s operations followed those announced on Tuesday (30 Sept), where eight drivers were caught providing illegal cross-border ride-hailing services at the two land checkpoints.
All their vehicles were also impounded, with LTA also acting on tip-offs from NTA and NPHVA in conducting these operations, it said.
Source: Land Transport Authority – We Keep Your World Moving on Facebook
However, the 30 Sept operation led to criticism from the Malaysian Cross-Border Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) Operators Association, which described it as “indiscriminate” and “grossly unfair”.
A “significant number” of the Malaysian-registered vehicles were transporting senior executives from multinational corporations in Europe and Asia who were visiting Johor Bahru for important business meetings, its statement claimed.
But the crackdown by the Singapore authorities shows no sign of letting up, with LTA saying it would continue to take firm action against illegal ride-hailing services.
Ms Sun said on Facebook on 30 Sept that safeguarding Singapore drivers’ livelihoods is a priority, with the authorities looking to make use of technology to track foreign vehicles using our roads.
She has pointed out that legal cross-border transport services are available, with ComfortDelgro and Strides Premier both rolling out booking systems for doorstep pickup to Malaysia.
Singapore has also discussed with the Malaysian authorities initiatives to improve the convenience of cross-border taxi services.
These include increasing the boarding and alighting points and encouraging more types of vehicles to provide legal cross-border services to serve different passenger needs.
Also read: Sun Xueling announces restrictions on app facilitating illegal cross-border ride-hailing in S’pore
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Featured image adapted from Sun Xueling on Facebook.