TAXIS

TAXIS

14.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Minister for Transport what is being done by his Ministry to monitor and improve the service of taxi companies and taxis, especially the "On Call" taxis which pick and choose fares.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: The Member has raised an issue which is close to the hearts of many taxi commuters. I can assure Members that taxi service quality is also a key concern of my Ministry and the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

Today, we have some 40,000 taxi drivers driving over 19,000 taxis on our roads. I am pleased to say that on the whole, our taxi drivers have upheld excellent service standards.

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Some commuters have complained that taxi drivers are abusing the "On Call" signs to pick and choose fares. To put this matter in perspective, let me explain that 62% of our taxis are fitted with automatic "On Call" signs. This means that the "On Call" signs of these taxis are controlled by a central dispatch system, and cannot be manipulated by taxi drivers themselves. As for the rest, we have strict measures to curb such possible errant behaviour by drivers.

Members would recall that last June, LTA put in place the Vocational Licence Points System (VLPS) to regulate the conduct of taxi drivers. Under the VLPS, the penalties (ie, fines and demerit points) for various offences are spelt out in a transparent manner, together with guidelines on suspending or revoking vocational licences arising from the offences. Abusing the "On Call" sign to refuse a customer is an offence that LTA views seriously. Under the VLPS, taxi drivers who refuse to pick up customers without a valid reason will be fined $100, and given 3 demerit points. A taxi driver's vocational licence will be suspended once he accumulates 6 or more demerit points.

I would also like to assure the Member that LTA will continue to monitor the Quality of Service (QoS) performance of the taxi companies closely, under the Taxi Operator Licensing regime, to ensure high standards of service to commuters.

Finally, let me add that we should not judge all taxi drivers based on the errant behaviour of a few. There have been many reported instances of taxi drivers who have gone the extra mile to provide good service to their commuters. One example, which was published on the Forum page (19th December 2003), is of a taxi driver who drove all the way from Jurong to Pasir Ris to return a purse and a bag of groceries that a passenger had earlier left behind in his taxi. Many other grateful commuters have similarly written letters to the Forum page to commend taxi drivers for their service. I would like to urge commuters to come forward to compliment taxi drivers where this is due, as this is yet another way to spur service improvement in the sector.

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Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Acting Minister for Manpower, in the last two years, (a) how many (i) foreign construction workers and (ii) foreign domestic workers have filed claims against their employers for non-payment of wages; (b) how many of these workers were successful in their claims; (c) what was the total amount owing to the workers; (d) how many dedicated Ministry officers are there to handle wage complaints pertaining to foreign workers; and (e) what steps has the Ministry put in place to protect workers against such abuse by employers.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: In 2003, a total of 4,034 foreign workers (excluding foreign domestic workers) filed salary claims against their employers, about half the number (7,424 foreign workers) in 2002. Most of these claims related to salaries owed to foreign workers in the construction industry.

The NMP asked how many were successful in their claims. I will provide the outcome of those claims dealt with in 2003. As of December 2003, a total of 4,479 foreign workers, including those cases carried forward from 2002, had their claims dealt with by the Ministry. Of the 4,479 workers, 2,070 of them (46.2%) had successfully settled

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their claims with the assistance of the Ministry, and a total of $3.9 million was recovered for the workers. Another 591 workers (13.2%) were able to reach a private settlement with their employers following consultation with the Ministry, or withdrew their cases for various reasons such as their claims were not contractually provided for in their employment contracts or covered by the Employment Act.

Investigations revealed that 1,141 workers (25.5%) had no valid claims. Seven foreign workers (0.1%) referred their claims for adjudication by the Commissioner for Labour. The remaining 670 workers (15%) had encountered difficulty in securing their payments either because their employers were facing cashflow problems due to irregular progress payments from the main contractors or their employers had ceased operations or had become insolvent. Most of these cases were from the construction industry which was badly affected by the economic downturn.

As for foreign domestic workers, 231 filed salary claims with the Ministry against their employers, as compared to 214 cases in 2002.

Of the 204 foreign domestic workers whose claims were dealt with in 2003, including those carried forward from 2002, 92 of them (45%) had their claims successfully resolved by the Ministry and some $132,000 in salary arrears was recovered. Sixty-five workers (32%) were either able to reach a private settlement with their employers following consultation with the Ministry or investigations revealed that they did not have valid claims. Another 35 workers (17%) did not pursue their cases further for various reasons, including some whose employers were facing severe financial hardship after losing their jobs or failing in their businesses and the amount claimed was small.

For the remaining 6% (12 foreign domestic workers), the Ministry is still in the process of investigating their claims. In some cases, the process is protracted because the employers made counter claims against the domestic workers.

The Labour Relations Department of the Ministry has 11 officers to handle salary claims of foreign workers, including salary claims of foreign domestic workers.

MOM bars offenders from further employing foreign workers. Thus far, a total of 37 construction employers and 17 domestic employers had been blacklisted from employing foreign workers and foreign domestic workers respectively.

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