Brick and mortar companies under challenge – once again

NOT for the first time, brick and mortar companies in Singapore have levelled against the uneven playing field vis-à-vis app-toting and Internet-savvy competitors. The National Taxi Association (NTA) is worried that the recent price cuts by third-party booking apps Grab and Uber will result in a “price war”, while owners of licensed bake shops and cafés reckon they are being disadvantaged compared to home bakers.

Over the past two weeks, Uber and Grab announced fare cuts of up to 15 and 14 per cent to their UberX private chauffeur service and GrabCar prices. Flagging the “compliance costs” – such as servicing requirements and the need to cover 250 kilometres each day – accrued to cab operators and passed on to cab drivers through their rentals, NTA executive adviser and MP Ang Hin Kee warned: “The new players will (first) offer a lot of goodies … But when they have the market share later on, they could exercise the right to earn profits. What checks and balances do we have to ensure that both commuters and drivers are not taken advantage of?”

Mr Ang added that the playing field should be levelled, either through lifting of these requirements from taxi firms or imposing them on the private-hire car business.

But cab operators and drivers are not the only ones feeling the heat. Some bake shop and café owners, characterising home bakers as “rivals”, are calling for the authorities to keep closer tabs on these home bakers who are not required to be licensed by the National Environment Agency (NEA). Home bakers often leverage upon the Internet and social media to peddle their baked goods, without the pressure of high rental, utility bills, and the licence fees. Notwithstanding the difficulty of enforcement by the NEA, some form of regulation to ensure food hygiene may still be useful, though the size of the home baker industry may not be as large yet.

In other news, five applications for political donation certificates were submitted to the Elections Department yesterday afternoon, ahead of Nomination Day on April 27 for the Bukit Batok by-election. This means that there may be more candidates for the by-election – which will be held on May 7 – in addition to Mr Murali Pillai of the People’s Action Party (PAP) and Dr Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), even though other opposition parties have not expressed interest in contesting. Ahead of the nine-day campaign next week, the candidates from the PAP and the SDP have been doing house visits and walking the ground in Bukit Batok.

And finally, the Child Protective Service (CPS) of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) investigated more cases of serious abuse last year. 551 cases – including instances of rape, molestation, and serious injuries inflicted by a family member – were investigated by the CPS in 2015, which is a 40 per cent increase from the 380 to 400 cases a year in 2012 to 2014. The MSF unit said better detection by agencies such as schools and hospitals has contributed to the larger number of serious cases probed, yet what is less clear is whether the number of child abuse reports and inquiries has increased, and the extent to which cases may go unreported.

 

 

Featured image from TMG file. 

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