Tougher Penalties to Deter Taxi Fare Evasion

1. To better protect the interests of taxi drivers from passengers who evade paying fares, the Public Transport Council (PTC) will increase the penalties for taxi fare evasion from 9 May 2016.

2. Passengers who do not pay their taxi fares will be liable for a higher composition fine of $200 for the first offence and $400 for the second offence, over and on top of the restitution payment of the unpaid taxi fare. Currently, the composition fines are $100 and $200 respectively. Repeat offenders who commit three or more offences and offenders who do not make a restitution payment of the unpaid taxi fare will be prosecuted in Court. Please refer to the Annex for more details.

3. PTC Chief Executive, Mr Alvin Chia, said, “There is a rising trend in taxi fare evasion. In 2015, there were a total of 240 fare evasion cases. This is three times the number in 2013, and a 90% increase from the 125 cases in 2014. Fare evasion affects the livelihood of taxi drivers and the stiffer penalties will help to better deter such offences. We will continue to work closely with taxi companies to curb taxi fare evasion.”.

For enquiries, please contact:
Maegan Ho, Assistant Manager (Communications)
Tel: 6354 9020
E-mail: ptc_office@ptc.gov.sg
Fax no: 6258 5463 

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