Even as the population makes a beeline for the fleet of Uber and Grab Taxis peppering our island, traditional taxis are facing more problems than a sporadic pick-up crowd. Some passengers, it seems, are not very inclined to pay for their fares.

According to The New Paper, Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan told Parliament that there are 150 instances of taxi fare evasion, out of the 700,000 trips every month. This figure only includes the reported cases.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) was able to recover fares for about half of the cases referred to it, Khaw reported.

Cases that involve unidentified fare evaders -- which are harder to resolve -- make up 65 per cent, he said, in reply to Nominated Member of Parliament Randolph Tan.

In view of these numbers, the LTA has tightened its regulations and imposed heavier fines for those caught.

As Khaw said: "To further deter fare evasion, we introduced higher penalties for fare evaders in May this year. If found guilty, fare evaders are liable to a fine of up to $1,000 for first-timers, while subsequent offenders may be fined up to $2,000, or jailed up to six months, or both."

"It is also mandatory for offenders to make restitution payment to taxi drivers."

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