Many are unaware that the service is illegal, while some are willing to take the risk.
During recent visits to the Ban San Street Terminal, ST saw a long line of licensed taxis waiting for passengers.
On the day of their trip, a Malaysian driver showed up punctually to whisk them from their home in the east of Singapore to various attractions in the Johor coastal town of Desaru, before dropping them off at a hotel in Johor Bahru in the evening. “It is convenient as someone is picking me up from my doorstep,” said the 27-year-old, who has used the service at least five times in 2024. He added that the service also provides him respite from the crowd before he reaches his destination.caught 32 drivers for offering illegal cross-border passenger transport services using foreign-registered vehicles
In the past, licensed taxi drivers were restricted to this specific route. But in 2012, the rule was relaxed to allow drivers to pick up or drop off passengers anywhere within their home country, while still requiring them to use the designated terminals after crossing the border. Several Telegram groups continue to tout cross-border chauffeur services targeting travellers from Singapore. PHOTO: SG CARPOOL JB - LINK SINGAPORE & MALAYSIA/TELEGRAM
Mr H.J. Suhaimi, who manages three taxi associations in Johor, told ST that since the cross-border operations resumed in May 2022, Malaysian taxi drivers also wait for hours at Johor’s Larkin Terminal, as most passengers are “already picked up by unlicensed drivers elsewhere in Johor Bahru”. LTA said Singapore and Malaysia are each allowed to have 200 cross-border taxis. Currently, close to 300 taxis are offering cross-border rides.
Licensed taxi drivers have long urged the authorities to crack down on illegal drivers, who have an unfair advantage as they are not obliged to pay for licences, memberships, full insurance coverage, mandatory vehicle inspection and taxes.Ismail said many Malaysians who lost their jobs during the pandemic have yet to regain their footing and are struggling with skyrocketing costs of living.
“This is a case of the illegal market meeting a wider range of demand than the legal market,” the associate professor from Singapore University of Social Sciences said.He drew a parallel between the current situation and the pirate taxi era after World War II, when unlicensed services thrived due to the licensed players’ “slow adaptation”.
“If the intended outcome is to regulate cross-border services better, it is likely that a combination of enforcement plus changes in regulation to allow a greater variety of service providers to enter the market legally,” he said. Associate Professor Lin Weiqiang from the National University of Singapore’s geography department said the licensed taxi operators might also need to rethink their business model, which is “out of date in this internet world of platforms and super apps”.
Checks by ST in early September found that several websites, Facebook pages, Telegram groups and over 20 listings on Carousell are still advertising cross-border rides.
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