News

23 Uber/Grab Drivers Caught Amending Decals Show Ego Still Exist in Some Drivers

2017-09-05 , 3:02 pm

What’s wrong with driving Private-hire? It’s an honest living, right? Why must they be so ashamed of a sticker showing that they drive for Grab or Uber? – GoodyFeed boss 2k17

Point taken, Boss. Driving for Private-hire companies IS an honest and decent living. You’re not splashing paint on doors or stripping for old ladies, so why hide it?

Well, there might be reasons like “I’m just part-timing and I don’t want my future dates to know that I drive for Grab. Wa paiseh sia.” or “If my mum knew I was out driving her car for money she would kill me.” But well, you just gotta suck thumb.

According to Channel News Asia, 23 Private-Hire drivers decided to just **** it and YOLO, but they were unfortunately caught in the act.

Or as my mum used to say, “See lah, get caught liao. Tell you don’t do it already.”

What happened?

On September 4, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that twenty-seven drivers were caught in July for disobeying Private-hire car industry rules.

Out of these twenty-seven, twenty-three tried to hide or change the decals that mark their vehicles as ‘Private-hire’ cars.

The other four were caught with their pants down – they didn’t have a Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational License (PDVL) or a concession letter that lets them chauffeur people while waiting for the confirmation of the license.

Penalty

Offenders may have their PDVL taken back, their concession letter withdrawn or their license applications disapproved.

First-time offenders may get a fine of up to $1,000, up to three-months’ jail, or both.

Repeat offenders will face even worse penalties.

Why the decals?

I mean, if there were no decals in the first place, there wouldn’t be anybody breaking the law just to hide it.

LTA deemed it necessary, however, because there were drivers that did not give a rat’s fart and just did whatever they wanted.

To control these black sheep, they made it compulsory from July 1 onwards for all private-hire cars to be ‘marked’ with decals.

By doing so, drivers and passengers would be aware that they are driving for this certain company, and if they did wrong they could be easily traced.

As of June 2017, there are a whopping 43,385 private hire cars in Singapore. That’s 43,385 decals! And the number may yet rise with 50,600 new PDVL applications as of July 31.

Looks like the private-hire business sure is booming, eh?

Trivia: LTA also disclosed that 131 drivers have been booked for parking or stopping at taxi stands.

Thoughts

I guess I won’t understand their pain since I’m not a Private-hire driver, but breaking the law just to conceal that you’re a Grab driver doesn’t really ring bells with me. Is it worth it? Are you doing it for a cause bigger than the potential fine you’re facing?

Everyone has something they don’t like, and they just put up with it. No doubt that nobody likes that annoying sticker ruining their windscreen, but you don’t see everybody trying to scrape that shit off.

Like what my encik always says.

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