New 70-cent fee for rides booked via ComfortDelGro's app from July 1

Platform fee aimed at helping improve quality of services, says transport firm

- Kok Yufeng

Passengers will pay 70 cents more for taxi and private-hire car rides booked via ComfortDelGro’s CDG Zig app from July1one of several fare-related announcements taxi and ride-hailing companies made on Monday.

ComfortDelGro said this new platform fee will also apply to limousine transfers made through its app, but not for rides booked via phone calls or text messages, or for street hails.

It is introducing the platform fee for app bookings so that it can continue to improve the quality of its point-to-point transport services, the home-grown transport giant said in a Facebook post on Monday.

It said it has been regularly improving the CDG Zig app by introducing features and services like merchant deals, restaurant reservation and private bus charter.

During the company’s annual general meeting in April, shareholders were also told that the next version of the app would come with new and improved user features and services.

Ride-hailing firms Grab, Gojek, Tada and Ryde all charge platform fees of varying amounts, with such fees going to the companies themselves. The stated purpose is usually to maintain, improve and develop app and product features.