29 April 2020
1. SMRT Taxis will extend the full rental waiver for our taxi partners until 1 June to help them cushion the financial impact they will experience as a result of the Government’s extension of the COVID-19 Circuit Breaker.
2. The extended full rental waiver would cost SMRT an additional $6 million, bringing the total support for our taxi partners to around $20 million.
3. Mr Tony Heng, Senior Vice President of SMRT Road Holdings, said: “We would like to assure our taxi partners that we are taking care of them during this difficult period. The extension of the Circuit Breaker till 1 June will surely affect their earnings. By giving them full rental waiver for the same period, we hope they have less to worry about. We are also constantly exploring other ways to support our taxi partners, including expanding our delivery collaborations.”
4. To provide jobs for our partners whose livelihoods have been badly affected by the tighter Circuit Breaker measures, we have also been expanding our collaborations with F&B operators on delivery orders. So far, we have recruited around 400 drivers to support our F&B partners, including restaurant reservation firm Chope. We aim to recruit more than 500 taxi partners to support our delivery collaborations.
5. SMRT is also working with community initiatives such as Project Makan to have our Strides Transportation (PHV) drivers deliver food to needy children and their families who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. So far, around 30 of our Strides drivers have stepped forward to help deliver meals twice a day to around 500 families.
6. Taxi partner Lee Kong Hiong, 53, who has been with SMRT Taxis for eight years, said: “Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, I saw a 40% to 60% drop in my earnings and was very worried. I am thankful that the company has waived our taxi rental during this period. Now, with the opportunities to complete food deliveries, I can still continue to drive and earn some extra income. I started delivering food for restaurants under Chope about two weeks ago. I normally complete up to eight deliveries a day. I am very happy to support this initiative, as these delivery trips definitely help to cover some of my bills.”
7. SMRT has also been working to help our taxi partners find short-term job options and opportunities for a career change to become Bus Captains with SMRT Buses. For those who are still driving taxis and limousines, we are generating more trips for them, such as working with business partners to buy taxi vouchers in bulk. Within SMRT, all staff have been asked to take SMRT taxis for their work trips if they are using point-to-point (P2P) services.
8. Since January 2020, SMRT has been distributing care packages to our taxi partners to safeguard their health and that of passengers. Each care package includes a pack of 10 surgical masks, a bottle of hand sanitiser and a bottle of disinfectant. We also strongly encourage our partners to have their temperature taken twice a day at the screening centres that we have set up.
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