A total of 40,231 petrol-powered taxi owners in Malaysia will get a 78 sen subsidy on petrol, bringing it down to the original price of RM1.92 per liter for RON97 octane. This subsidy is limited to 720 litres per month, or a maximum of RM561.60. The subsidy will be controlled via a fleetcard system, similiar to the fleetcard used for subsidised diesel. This will cost the government RM271 million a year.

Datuk Shahrir also said that the savings from reduced subsidies for the government this year now amounts to only RM2 billion instead of the initially estimated RM4.4 billion as the price of crude oil has gone up.

In other public transport fuel-related news, the government will be pushing for buses to use CNG (compressed natural gas) instead of diesel. This will increase the consumption of CNG in this country, currently used by NGVs consisting of 94% taxis, 0.4% buses and 5.6% private vehicles. It won’t be a “dream fuel” forever as the price for CNG is also expected to go up in the future.

UPDATE: Taxi drivers have been asking for a minimum charge of RM3 instead of the current RM2 when a passenger gets into the cab, and are still persistent in requesting for the higher charges despite the new petrol subsidy. Malaysian Taxi Drivers and Owners Association secretary Hiew Pow Man says this is because the new subsidy doesn’t do much to help taxis as most run on NGV.

http://paultan.org/archives/2008/07/18/720-litres-of-subsidised-petrol-a-month-for-taxis/

Extra charge to defray higher cost of diesel, says ComfortDelGro 

 MOST cab rides will cost 30 cents more from next Thursday, after Singapore's largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro yesterday announced its decision to levy a fuel surcharge on all trips.
The first of its kind for the cab industry, the flat rate payable regardless of the distance travelled comes just months after fares went up in December.

Most of the other cab companies are expected to follow the lead of ComfortDelGro, which owns Comfort and CityCab taxis. The industry giant was reported three weeks ago by The Sunday Times to be considering such a move.

ComfortDelGro said yesterday the surcharge is to help cabbies mitigate the unrelenting rise in fuel prices.

It noted that diesel pump prices have risen by more than 50 per cent in the last six months alone - to about $1.83 a litre after discount.

Mr Yang Ban Seng, chief executive of ComfortDelGro's taxi business, said: 'In the past six months, we have been absorbing a large part of the increase in diesel costs.'

He pointed out that cabbies get diesel dispensed at company-run pumps at $1.19 a litre.

In the first quarter, ComfortDelGro declared that it incurred a $6.3 million loss on diesel sale because it has been selling diesel at sizeable discounts.

Mr Seng Han Thong, adviser to the Taxi Operators' Associations, supported the move. Mr Seng had said that taxi firms could not continue to subsidise fuel indefinitely.

'We call on other taxi companies to continue to help their drivers cope with rising diesel prices,' he said.

Assuming that each cabby gets about 30 customers a day, the 30-cent surcharge will raise his daily takings by $9, which ComfortDelGro said will help to offset his bigger fuel bill.

Even with subsidised diesel, ComfortDelGro drivers pay about a $15 more a day, based on an average consumption of about 45 litres a vehicle.

To commuters, the surcharge amounts to a 2.6 per cent rise in fare for an average 9.3km ride.

ComfortDelGro said it will remove the surcharge when diesel falls back to $1.19 - the market price of the fuel in December 2007.

Asked if it would raise the levy beyond 30 cents if diesel continues to climb, spokesman Tammy Tan said: 'We've not come to that. This is a very new thing to us.'

Smaller taxi operators are following ComfortDelGro's lead.

Mr Johnny Harjantho, managing director of Smart Taxis, said: 'We will most likely follow.'

Mr Lim Chong Boo, managing director of Premier Taxis, said his company is also likely to implement the surcharge 'after consulting with our drivers'.

The exception, at least for the moment, is Mr Neo Nam Heng, managing director of Prime Taxis, whose fleet of cabs runs entirely on natural gas, which is cheaper than diesel.

'We should consider the commuters' interests. Our drivers have to accept it too,' he said.

Cabby Tan Soon Huat, 49, who has been driving a Comfort cab for 14 years, said: 'I think the 30 cents surcharge is quite reasonable. I just hope commuters see it that way too.'

Others added that the rising diesel prices have wiped out much of the higher takings they were starting to get from the December fare hikes.

Regular taxi user Tang Swee Noi, 33, a teacher, said: 'Much that I am unhappy about it, I still have to take taxis, or I will have to wake up much earlier to go to work.

'We all know the fuel price is increasing so I don't think there's very much that taxi drivers can do. For now, it's still cheaper than getting a car.'
 
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_256847.html

I refer to the letter More taxis won't solve taxi industry's woes.

Moaz Yusuf Ahmad presented an impassioned defence of our taxi drivers in which today's dire state of the service is attributed to the economic of supply and demand.

By the precise same reasoning, we should accept snatch thefts and burglary as they too are driven by the basic economics of supply and demand.

Easy money is hard to obtain and in short supply, but the demand is so high that some people are willing to break the rules in order to obtain it in ways which are not permitted.

There is no difference between theft and a taxi driver not using the meter and setting his own fare above that to which he is entitled. A taxi driver who does not use the meter is guilty of fraud in that he has advertised himself as 'Taxi Bermeter' when he is in fact not.

He is guilty of obtaining a permit by deception, guilty under the Consumer Protection Act of falsely advertising prices, and of breaching the regulations which apply to him.

We do not tolerate theft and therefore we must not tolerate the current actions by taxi drivers. I firmly believe that they should be hauled up before the courts in just the same way as a thief should and face criminal charges for their actions.

I further feel it would be advantageous for the government to make a clear statement that where the meter was not used, no fare can be requested and the taxi journey is entirely free of payment, and that such a rule makes any agreement whether verbal or written void. 

Likewise, where a ticket system has been implemented, it should be required that the meter is run in addition and the passenger pays the lower of the meter or the ticket value upon arrival, in order that ticket systems are not used to inflate prices above those to which a taxi driver is entitled.

In some areas, the number of taxis not using the meter is so high it makes it very difficult for passengers to wait for a taxi which does use the meter. 

I personally spent more than half an hour hailing cabs on Petaling Street one recent Saturday before giving up and walking to another part of Kuala Lumpur to find a taxi driver using a meter. 
Rest assured that I reported all those drivers and only regret I did not have a camera to add additional evidence.

I can assure the writer that I felt threatened, disappointed and under pressure to pay the over inflated fares quoted – which were all more than double what I know the meter rate would be having taken a metered taxi to Petaling Street just an hour ago.

It is important to remember that a taxi driver has a choice whether to accept the meter rates or not.  At any time, a taxi driver who feels he is not earning a fair wage for his effort is free to quit driving a taxi and take up another job which will pay him what he feels he is worth.

When there is a shortage of people willing to be taxi drivers, then and only then is the fare structure too low. Until that day, the continued presence of taxi drivers on the road is proof absolute that the fare structure is sufficient.
 
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/86298