Taxis and licensed ride-hailing drivers in Singapore are seeing a nice jump in business, thanks to a recent clampdown on illegal cross-border services. Some drivers have even reported a business increase of up to 30%. The crackdown was a joint effort by authorities in both Singapore and Malaysia.
According to drivers who spoke to Shin Min Daily News, that illegal services would bring passengers into Singapore and then keep giving rides without the proper licenses. These drivers would often go to big tourist spots to get customers, and they’d offer cheaper prices for trips back to Johor Bahru (JB).
A limousine taxi driver named Chen said that the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) increased efforts to enforce the rules have helped. He’s personally seen a 30% increase in his business because there’s less competition from the illegal services. The LTA made a Facebook post on August 6 confirming that they had caught 19 drivers during a recent crackdown in areas like Gardens by the Bay, Changi Airport, and at a land checkpoint. In total, a few dozen illegal drivers have been caught in recent weeks.
The news of these crackdowns seems to have worked, as about 70% of the illegal cross-border services from Malaysia have reportedly stopped operating before the National Day weekend. It’s not just happening in Singapore, either. Similar efforts have been made in Malaysia, where the Johor Road Transport Department seized two Singapore-registered SUVs that were suspected of picking up passengers near Legoland Malaysia.
Other taxi drivers are also feeling the positive effects. Two drivers who have been in the business for 10 years reported a 10% increase in their business, and another driver named Cai has seen a 20% jump.
Why People Use Illegal Services
A Singapore passenger named Wang explained that he used to use these services for trips to JB because the prices were good, around S$300−S$400 for a 10-hour trip, and it was convenient. But he said he will now stay away from them because of the LTA’s enforcement actions.
Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling also weighed in on August 6, stating that the main reason for the crackdown is to tackle unlicensed and uninsured drivers. She said these drivers “put passengers at risk and harm the livelihoods of legal drivers.” She also mentioned that Singaporean authorities are looking to improve the legal cross-border taxi service by adding more boarding points, encouraging more taxis to join, and introducing a user-friendly booking app. Since 2022, 136 drivers using foreign-registered vehicles for illegal services have been caught. The penalties for these drivers have included fines of up to S$2,600 and the forfeiture of their vehicles.
