Uber, Grab drivers will soon need to have a special licence. Here’s what that means to you

On Tuesday, Senior Minister of State for Transport Ng Chee Meng announced his long-awaited verdict of the government’s plans for the taxi and private-hire car industry in the Ministry of Transport’s Committee of Supply debate in Parliament.

We bring you the rundown of the announcements:

1. For drivers who pick up passengers under private hire car services like Uber and Grab — the Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL).

Here are the requirements for a driver to get one:

– A $40 registration fee

– A series of background checks (to make sure your driver does not drive like this guy or this guy, for instance)

– A medical examination

– A minimum of two years of driving experience — and by the way, here’s an interesting nugget: before the likes of Uber and Grab existed, the limousine industry was already using drivers in their mid-20s.

– An upper age limit of 75 years old

– Singaporean applicants have to be sole proprietors (meaning they must register their own business, and then register their cars formally as the business’s commercial car — and then get the corresponding insurance required) or employees of a car rental company.

– Foreigners (i.e. PR or Work Permit holders) can also get this licence, provided they are employees of a car rental company. This means they won’t have the “self-employed” flexibility that Singaporean PDVL holders will have.

– Attend and pass a 10-hour course, with a three-hour refresher every six years — if you are an active driver and have no demerit points, you will be exempt from the refresher course, though.

A demerit point system for private-hire car drivers will be in place, Ng said.

Drivers can start applying for these licences from June.

What this means to you: If you’re a passenger, you can ride safer knowing that your driver has gone through a course and those all-important background checks. You might also see more younger drivers at the wheel, although younger drivers also command higher insurance premiums. At the moment, Uber’s minimum age of 25 and Grab’s minimum age of 22 means we’re already seeing this happening.

Does this mean being a private-hire car driver is now more attractive than driving a taxi? Not entirely — they still can’t do street pick-ups, and that’s where 80 per cent of taxi trips start from.

 

2. Private-hire cars will have to display a special decal.

Because they pretty much look like normal cars, you’ll be able to tell if the Uber or Grab car coming to get you is a legitimate one or not, based on these stickers. Ng says they will be “tamper-evident” — meaning they get damaged once it is peeled off from a car and pasteed anywhere else — so you’ll be able to tell if anyone has tried to do that.

We don’t know what it will look like yet, though — the ministry has not yet shared any pictures of it — but it will help you to see if a car is a legit private hire vehicle or not.

What this means to you: Now, you can not only check the vehicle’s licence plate to make sure it matches the one you booked with your app — the new decal provides additional assurance that the car is registered with the LTA.

Always remember: cars must always be pre-booked. Do not ever board a car that stops for you randomly, whether it is labelled or not. Only taxis can pick you up that way.

 

Several changes that were announced will also help our friendly taxi uncles:

3. Taxi drivers can convert their licences to allow them to drive both taxis and private-hire cars for free.

They will only have to attend a two-hour briefing that involves helping them to better-understand the new regulations that apply to private-hire car drivers. Future taxi driver licence courses will allow a driver to get both licences at one shot, as they’ll incorporate private car training too!

 

4. The courses taxi drivers need to take to obtain taxi driver licences will be cut from 60 to 25 hours, and also updated to incorporate better tech.

The Taxi Driver Vocational Licence course will be shortened from 60 to 25 hours long, with parts of it slated to be converted to e-learning. It’ll also be updated to include GPS navigation, from its current over-reliance on street directories.

Refresher courses will also be updated and shortened, with only drivers who have been inactive, have demerit points or have committed non-navigational traffic offences required to take it.

 

What these mean: Life will be easier for taxi drivers lah. And hopefully they won’t say Uber and Grab are taking their lunch money anymore. Besides, they’re a two-hour briefing away from being able to join them if they wanted!

 

Changes to the taxi drivers’ curriculum will take effect as soon as the middle of this year, Ng says, while those affecting private-hire car drivers will kick in in the first half of next year. Plenty of time, see?

 

Top photo: Composite from Uber and Grab Facebook pages, taxi image from Flickr

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- Jeanette Tan