Additional $16 Million to Continue Support for Taxi and Private Hire Car Drivers

          The Multi-Ministry Taskforce announced today that Singapore would extend the Stabilisation Phase to 21 November 2021 given the continuing pressures on our health care system and to provide more time for the situation to stabilise. The extended restricted measures are expected to continue to affect taxi and private hire car (PHC) ridership.

2        Currently, the CDRF provides support for drivers with $10 per vehicle per day for 31 days from October 2021, and $5 per vehicle per day for the next 30 days. Taking into account the extension of the Stabilisation Phase and its likely impact on ridership, the Government will increase the current tranche of CDRF for November 2021, and extend the CDRF when the current tranche ends after November 2021. Eligible drivers will receive $10 per vehicle per day for 30 days in November 2021 (i.e. an additional $5 per vehicle per day), and $5 per vehicle per day for 31 days from December 2021.

3        The enhancement and extension of the CDRF will cost an additional $16 million and is expected to benefit about 50,000 drivers. This brings the total amount set aside by the Government for the taxi and PHC sectors to about $520 million since February 2020. On top of the Government’s assistance, taxi operators have pledged to continue rental waivers for drivers.

4        Similar to earlier CDRF tranches, there is no need for drivers to make an application to receive the payouts. Drivers who are currently receiving CDRF payouts will automatically receive the extended payouts through their operators. Taxi main hirers will continue to receive payouts in the form of rental rebates, while PHC drivers will receive the payouts through their e-wallets or directly into their bank accounts. LTA will work with the taxi and PHC operators to implement the latest CDRF payouts, and operators will inform drivers of disbursement details in due course.

5        Drivers who do not qualify for CDRF, including taxi relief drivers, may apply for the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s COVID-19 Recovery Grant (CRG) if they meet its eligibility criteria^[1]. Drivers will not be eligible for the CRG if they are receiving CDRF payouts.

6          We would like to thank our tripartite partners, including the National Taxi Association, the National Private Hire Vehicles Association, and the taxi and PHC operators, for working closely with LTA to continue to support taxi and PHC drivers during this challenging period.

^[1] Drivers must fulfil the following key criteria, among others, to qualify for the CRG: (i) Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident aged 21 years or above, (ii) prior gross household income (HHI) of not more than $7,800, or per capita household income (PCHI) of not more than $2,600; (iii) living in a property with annual value (AV) not more than $21,000, and does not own more than 1 property; (iv) declared annual Net Trade Income (NTI) in either 2019 or 2020; and (v) experiencing NTI loss for at least 3 consecutive months, with an average overall loss of at least 50% at the point of application, compared to their average monthly NTI in 2019 or 2020. Applications are open from 18 Jan to 31 Dec 2021 at https://go.gov.sg/crg.