SINGAPORE — ComfortDelgro and Prime Taxi have become the latest to submit their plans on changes to the fare structure to the Public Transport Council (PTC), resulting in almost all the taxi operators here to do so, as they joined Premier Taxis and Transcab in making this move.

Prime Taxi, Premier Taxis and Transcab are seeking to introduce dynamic or surge pricing, which fluctuates according to demand. TODAY understands that ComfortDelgro, the biggest player here, is looking to introduce a flat fare structure, with no surcharges.

Operators and transport analysts say the taxi operators are doing this to level the playing field, in response to ride-sharing services grabbing much market share in the past few years. But initially, passengers will suffer the brunt of the confusion brought about by the new systems if they come to pass, say analysts.

In a reply to TODAY, Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer, ComfortDelGro Corporation, said: “We can confirm that we have written in to the PTC and await its response.”

Similarly, Prime Taxi has written to the PTC as well as the Land Transport Authority about its plans for surge pricing two weeks ago.

Of the taxi operators TODAY contacted, only SMRT Taxis declined to say if it had done the same.

Mr Tony Heng, managing director, SMRT Taxis and Private Hire Services, said: “We are unable to disclose or discuss specifics of future pricing plans.”

Earlier this week, Transcab and Premier revealed their plans to implement surge pricing, where fares change depending on demand. Thus, their cabs could become much costlier when demand surges, just like with Grab and Uber.

A Transcab spokesman said it is doing this, in part motivated by feedback from cabbies, on how they could stay competitive.

There have been well-publicised complaints from cabbies that they are losing passengers to ride sharing services, due to the rigid fare structure they have to adhere to.

Transport analysts say the incumbents are doing this in the belief that they could win back some market share.

However, they noted that the unpredictability and lack of transparency of surge pricing will cause confusion to commuters.

Transport expert Dr Walter Theseira, a senior lecturer at SIM University, noted that surcharges so far have allowed taxi companies to achieve the goal of balancing out demand and supply, and in a way, so does surge pricing.

However, he pointed out that implementing surge pricing throws up a new problem. “The difficulty comes when you consider that taxis have a service obligation to take street-hail customers. Street-hail customers cannot be expected to know what the current surge price is, since it is unpredictable ... you have the problem that street-hail customers must be properly informed of the current surge fares ... so they can decide if they want to take the taxi or not.”

“This could create a lot of operational difficulties. For example, tourists and the elderly ... may be confused, or may believe the taxi driver is trying to cheat them by illegally surcharging them,” he said, adding that this will also pose difficulties for drivers.

National University of Singapore transport analyst Professor Lee Der Horng noted that compared to the meter method, which is transparent in that it is based on travel time and distance, “price surging will factor taxi supply and demand into the fare calculation, which are things out of passengers’ reach or understanding”.

“Having said this, I do support the move of having a more simplified taxi fare structure and do away with the time- and location-based surcharges,”he said.

The second model being considered — the flat fare structure — has the advantage of making the fare transparent to the passenger before the journey, he added.