Adjustments Necessary in Regulating Ride-Hailing Operators
October 22, 2018
The rise in number of ride-hailing operators like Uber and Grab is complicating the ways regulation has to be implemented in the transport sector. Professor Julian Wright and Lecturer Timothy Wong from the NUS Department of Economics are urging for regulations to be designed such that street-hailing, where riders flag down drivers, and ride-hailing through smartphone apps are allowed to co-exist. They point out that each method is efficient in different circumstances, though the regulations needed for street-hailing and ride-hailing differ.
Even as the present regulations are satisfactory, there is an increasing likelihood that ride-hailing services will be concentrated in the hands of just one or two operators. Faced with this reality, more needs to be done to avoid higher prices due to a monopolised market. Two ways of tackling this problem are to allow drivers and riders to access multiple operators, and to eliminate exclusive contracts that bind drivers to a single operator. At present, taxi companies are meeting more stringent standards, especially with regards to quality of service and taxi availability. With new regulations in place, these requirements can possibly be relaxed, while ensuring that ride-hailing operators are appropriately licensed in compliance with regulations.
Read more here.