In a world where every newfangled thing is increasingly paperless and frictionless to improve adoption rate among the masses, it is amazing to see companies set off in the opposite direction.

On Wednesday, June 28, ComfortDelGro Taxi launched the most convoluted rewards system ever to try to lure commuters to take its cabs within 24 hours of alighting from a bus or train ride.

And this was what Singapore's largest taxi operator came up with:

A S$10 cab ride will now earn 20 Cabpoints under the new CabRewards+ initiative.

Previously, commuters earn only 10 Cabpoints under the CabRewards Programme.

And here's where things get a bit harder to follow.

For every 83 Cabpoints, commuters can get an instant discount of 50 cents off their cab fare, up to a maximum discount of S$10.

For every 1,000 Cabpoints, commuters can redeem a S$5 taxi voucher, which will be mailed to them within 14 working days.

To qualify for the scheme, commuters must first sign up for a CabRewards account.

On successful activation, they can register up to two EZ-Link or Nets FlashPay cards, which must be the same cards they use to exit buses and trains.

At the end of their cab ride, they have to tap their registered cards on the taxi’s cashless payment terminal to earn Cabpoints.

In the first phase, only commuters taking SBS Transit buses, the North-East Line and the Downtown Line, as well as the Punggol and Sengkang LRT systems will enjoy discounts on ComfortDelGro taxis.

Commuters taking buses or trains operated by other operators, such as Go-Ahead, SMRT and Tower Transit, will not get to enjoy the benefits yet. ComfortDelGro expects to extend the benefits to them but it is subject to approval by the Land Transport Authority.

In other words, this is the exact amount of benefits earned going by the above formula:

Taking S$41.50 of cab rides to earn 50 cents off.

Taking S$500 worth of cab rides to earn a physical S$5 voucher.

All of this is conditional on riding the buses and trains prior to boarding the taxi within a 24-hour period.

Commuters must remember to tap the same card on various terminals throughout the whole commute just to save those few cents.

Top photo via Wikimedia