ComfortDelGro sets commission from cabbies at 70c per ride for 3 months
Nearly a year after ComfortDelGro raised the commissions it collects from its drivers in January, the largest taxi operator here will fix its commission at 70 cents a ride for all app- and phone-booked rides from Dec 4, 2024, to Feb 28, 2025.
This move is intended to encourage more drivers on ComfortDelGro’s Zig app to increase the availability and supply of rides during the festive period and December school holidays, a ComfortDelGro spokesman told The Straits Times on Dec 2.
He added that its drivers using Zig will get increased earnings on average from the shift to a flat commission rate of 70 cents.
ComfortDelGro taxi drivers were informed of this change in commission on Nov 27 in a circular sent via e-mail and text message.
Since Jan 1, 2024, all ComfortDelGro cabbies have had to pay the operator 7 per cent – an increase from 5 per cent – of fares collected from app- and phone-booked rides for journeys costing more than $9 due to the higher cost of technology maintenance and system upgrading, and higher financial charges for cashless transactions.
Commissions were waived for bookings with fares of up to $9 to “cushion the financial impact on drivers”.
The ComfortDelGro spokesman said the change in commission will not affect how passenger fares are calculated. He did not respond to a question on whether the fee will revert to 7 per cent after Feb 28, 2025.
Some cabbies welcomed the move as the fixed fee of 70 cents is likely to increase their daily earnings.
Mr Teo Luan Goon, 61, said that this would be good as he would be able to start earning more from longer-distance, fixed-fare app bookings.
The cabby of two years added that right now, many taxi drivers do not like to accept fixed-fare app bookings as they feel disadvantaged since they need to pay 7 per cent of fares collected to ComfortDelGro, in addition to not being compensated for heavy traffic conditions and passenger no-shows.
Instead, cabbies prefer to accept metered app- and phone-booked rides, said Mr Teo, as there is already a flat commission of 70 cents on top of a booking fee that discourages passengers from not showing up, and a continuous increase in fares based on meter readings – even when the cab is stuck in traffic.
With the fixed commission, drivers may prefer to take up more long-distance, fixed-fare app bookings since they pay a lower commission of 70 cents, he noted, adding that they may be less willing to accept short-distance, fixed-fare app bookings of up to $9 since a 70-cent commission translates into a commission rate of nearly 10 per cent.
Likewise, Mr Peter Quek, 48, a veteran cabby of 9½ years, said he would be able to earn more as the 70-cent commission is much lower than the average amount he now pays – which ranges from 90 cents to $1.20 a trip.
For Mr Quek, the cost savings of 20 to 50 cents a trip translate into a significant overall increase in earnings each month of up to $150 since he accepts an average of 300 fixed-fare and meter-based app bookings each month.
Mr Teo hopes this fixed commission will be here to stay and remain beyond the stipulated three-month period.
Other ride-sharing platform companies collect commissions from completed trips, with Gojek charging 10 per cent of fares and Grab charging dynamic rates – ranging from minus 10 per cent to 25 per cent – that account for the distance travelled and time taken to pick up passengers.
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