GrabCab vehicles will hit the road from July as Singapore’s sixth taxi operator launches its services.
GrabCab, a subsidiary of Grab’s rental arm GrabRentals, announced on 4 Jun 2025 that it will launch with 40 new fifth-generation electric hybrid Toyota Prius vehicles.
GrabCab received a licence to run street-hail services in April 2025. The Land Transport Authority said GrabCab’s entry brings the total number of taxi operators to six.
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The other current taxi operators are CityCab, CDG, Prime, Strides and Trans-Cab.
GrabCab Fleet Expansion Plans and Driver Requirements
GrabCab will add more models to its fleet, including the electric hybrid Hyundai Kona from August and a fully electric vehicle some time in 2025.
Grab said it will have a 100 per cent green fleet featuring low and zero-emission hybrid vehicles.
All GrabCab vehicles will sport a dark green livery. Each taxi will be equipped with a Mobile Data Terminal, commonly known as a taxi meter, displaying fare details and driver profiles.
GrabCab noted it would like to meet the minimum fleet size requirement of 800 taxis for the street-hail operator licence before the third year of operations. Mr Victor Sim, director of GrabRentals, said GrabCab does not have plans to wait until the third year to hit that target.
As of 4 Jun 2025, the operator received 700 to 800 registration applications from prospective drivers who expressed interest in renting a GrabCab vehicle. About 400 to 500 eligible applicants have been selected for the first pool of drivers.
Mr Sim said GrabCab chose applicants with a taxi driver’s vocational licence and good safety records based on the driving demerit points they had accumulated.
Appointments for pre-registered drivers will begin on 5 Jun 2025. From 9 Jun 2025, registrations will be open to all eligible drivers.
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Applicants without a taxi driver’s vocational licence will be directed to take a course at approved training centres, with the course fees fully funded by GrabCab.
GrabCab Rental Rates, Fares and Driver Benefits
Rental rates for a GrabCab vehicle can go up to $117 per day. The first 100 drivers who sign up will get a rate of $112 per day. Comparatively, rental rates for a Toyota Prius under other taxi operators can range from around $110 per day for ComfortDelGro, around $109.80 per day for Prime Taxi and from $100 per day for Strides.
GrabCab fares for a four-seater standard vehicle have a flag-down fare of $4.60. Distance rates are 26 cents for every 400m under 10km and 26 cents for every 350m after 10km.
There is a fee of 26 cents for every 45 seconds of waiting. Fares for the Toyota Prius model under ComfortDelGro, Trans-Cab, Strides Premier and Prime Taxi are identical.
GrabCab fares for a four-seater electric vehicle have a flag-down fare of $4.80. Distance rates are 26 cents for every 400m under 10km and 26 cents for every 350m after 10km, as well as a fee of 26 cents for every 45 seconds of waiting. The flag-down fare for six-seater cars is $4.80.
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Mr Sim said GrabCab’s passenger fare structure is pegged to what other operators are charging.
GrabCab drivers receive a safe driving bonus of $1,000 for every 12 months free of at-fault accidents. A 1 per cent GrabStreak bonus on fares earned applies for drivers who complete between 500 to 700 trips a month.
Fuel discounts of up to 40 per cent are available at all Caltex petrol stations. Electric vehicle charging discounts of up to 25 per cent are offered at charging providers SP, Charge+, Volt and Shell.
The first 100 drivers who sign up get 14 days of medical leave, while subsequent drivers will have fewer days but will still be covered. Up to $500 credits apply for clinic and medical visits.
Prolonged medical leave benefit covers up to 90 per cent of loss of street-hail and ride-hail earnings, and up to 14 days medical leave and 60 days hospitalisation leave.
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Drivers can instantly cash out their fares after every trip using the Grab app.
The first 100 drivers who sign up will also have a welcome bonus of $1,888 for a 12-month package and $3,888 for a 36-month package.
GrabCab will sponsor eligible drivers up to $400 for their taxi driver’s vocational licence application, covering course fees, application charges and the medical check-up.
The taxi meter is fully integrated with the Grab platform. Drivers can access ride-hail and street-hail jobs by scanning a QR code displayed on the meter with the Grab driver app. Using the app, taxi drivers can switch between street-hail and ride-hail jobs.
Drivers can use the in-app relief driver matching service to chat with prospective partners located near them. Mr Sim said they may feel more assured in searching for a driving partner using this method, as GrabCab conducts a tight screening process with regard to safety records.
At present, drivers working for other taxi operators have to contact a call centre or access a desktop web portal to find a relief driver partner.
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Mr Sim said GrabCab will focus on the national supply problem.
He noted that GrabCab is focusing on reactivating the relatively large pool of inactive drivers with taxi driver’s vocational licences and reaching out to potential drivers who are on the fence about getting a taxi driver’s vocational licence.
Mr Sim told the media that attracting drivers from existing taxi firms to join their platform is something they want to avoid doing. He believes that not all taxi driver’s vocational licence holders in Singapore are active.
Mr Sim said GrabCab’s aim is to grow the pie and not to split the pie, or take some from other operators.
In a statement issued to Strides Premier taxi drivers on 30 May 2025, Grab said there will be no change to the job allocation algorithm on its app, even with the introduction of GrabCab.
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It added that there will be no preferential treatment that allows trips to be assigned to GrabCab drivers instead of Strides Premier drivers.
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