ComfortDelGro Taxi extends cabbie relief, to sink into red for fiscal 2020

LAND transport company ComfortDelGro Corporation is spending S$80 million to extend its daily rental relief for cabbies until Sept 30 amid worsening economic conditions and enhanced Covid-19 measures.

The move will effectively push its Singapore taxi operations into the red for the year ending Dec 31, 2020. This will be the first time ComfortDelGro Taxi posts full-year losses, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The group's taxi hirers are currently receiving a total of S$46.50 per day in rental relief, comprising S$36.50 from ComfortDelGro and S$10 from the government's special relief fund.

The relief amounts were supposed to be reduced gradually in April and May according to the original timeline, but the worsening situation has made it imperative that more help is extended to cabbies, the group said.

"Our priority is our cabbies' survival," said ComfortDelGro Taxi chief executive Ang Wei Neng, who described the situation facing cabbies as "very challenging".

The move comes as cabbies face a sharp drop in tourist arrivals, an increased number of people working from home, enhanced measures to restrict crowds at shopping malls, eateries, as well as the closure of nightspots.

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"It is unprecedented. Our cabbies are part of the ComfortDelGro family and we want to help them continue to put food on the table," Mr Ang added.

In addition to the taxi rental relief extension, the group said it is also passing on all savings from the licence fee waiver and S$2,200 given by the government for each unhired taxi to cabbies through a waiver of the call levy till September 2020.

These are over and above the S$1,000 per month the government is giving to self-employed persons over the next nine months, ComfortDelGro added.

As at 12.32pm on Monday, ComfortDelGro shares were trading at S$1.51, down S$0.04 or 2.6 per cent.