LTA FEES FOR TAXI TO GO UP, COSTS MAY BE PASSED ON TO CONSUMERS

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has just launched another blow to the embattled taxi industry, which has been under pressure from disruptors such as Uber and Grab.

LTA revealed today that they will raise operator license fees from 0.1% of gross revenue to 0.2% this year, and then 0.3% next year. This is the first increase in a decade, but comes at an unusually bad time.

For SMRT, this fee increases means more than $100,000 more will be due to LTA per year.

But for smaller firms, the move could wipe out months of revenue.

“What can we do?” the manager of a small firm said. “It’s not as if the rate is negotiable.”

Another said: “That’s a doubling and trebling of fees in just two years. We’re going to appeal. It may be useless but we have to register our protest.”