Options for child seats, wheelchair boot space on ride-hailing apps

Passengers travelling with young children, the elderly or people with disabilities can request child seats or extra boot space for foldable wheelchairs more easily when booking ride-hailing services.

- Esther Loi

This was rolled out from November as part of an ongoing review of the taxi and ride-hailing sectors, known collectively as the point-to-point transport sector, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor in a Facebook post on Dec 4.

Accompanying her post were screenshots of this function on various ride-hailing apps.

These include child-friendly and wheelchair space options on the Gojek app, and child- and wheelchair-friendly options on Grab.

Additionally, from January, all taxi and ride-hailing operators will have to notify passengers, drivers and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) within an hour of any systemic incidents that could impair the provision of point-to-point transport services.

Operators intending to leave the Singapore market will also have to submit an exit plan to LTA at least 120 days before surrendering their licence, up from 60 days now.

These operators will also have to notify the public at least 60 days before surrendering their licence, so that passengers and drivers have enough time to take cash out of their electronic wallets and transition to other platforms.